11

During his first day of training, Jonas lies on the bed as the old man places hands on his back. Jonas slips into a vivid memory: frigid air, falling crystals he learns are snow, and himself seated on a sled atop a hill. He rides downhill, exhilarated by speed, cold, balance, and silence, then returns to the Annex bed.

When Jonas asks if the memory is gone, the old man explains he has countless similar memories and that giving one lightens his burden. Jonas asks why their community lacks snow, sleds, and hills. The old man explains that Sameness and Climate Control eliminated weather and hills to ease agriculture and transportation, and emphasizes that the Receiver’s role grants honor, not power.

To test Jonas’s receiving, the old man transmits a second memory: pleasant warmth from above that Jonas identifies as sunshine. Pleased with Jonas’s quick learning, the old man prepares to end the session. Jonas, recalling warnings about pain, admits he felt none and is reassured that pain will come later.

At Jonas’s request, the old man sends one more memory: prolonged sunshine that becomes discomfort, culminating in sharp stinging pain that Jonas cannot name. The old man explains it was sunburn. Jonas accepts the pain as part of understanding his role.

As Jonas departs, he thanks the old man. Weary and saddened, the mentor clarifies the title confusion by telling Jonas to call him The Giver, marking the formal start of their mentor–Receiver relationship.