The Giver Quartet, #1
The Giver
by Lois Lowry
Contents
9
Overview
After being chosen as Receiver, Jonas feels isolated as friends and family react cautiously. His parents reveal a prior failed female Receiver whose name is forbidden. Jonas’s assignment rules are shockingly brief and severe—demanding secrecy, limiting medication, and permitting lying—forcing him to confront looming pain and pervasive uncertainty.
Summary
Leaving the Ceremony, Jonas immediately feels set apart by his new role as Receiver of Memory. People make way for him, whisper, and even Asher’s congratulations carry a hint of hesitation, signaling a subtle shift in their friendship.
At home, dinner is subdued. Lily chatters about volunteering, but Jonas remains uneasy. His parents express pride and emphasize the uniqueness of his selection. When Jonas asks about the Chief Elder’s reference to a prior failure, his parents reveal it was a female Receiver; her name became Not-to-Be-Spoken, and she was never seen again.
Alone, Jonas opens his training folder and finds a single sheet of rules. He is to report to the Annex after school and go home after training, keep his training secret, and is exempted from rules governing rudeness.
Further rules unsettle him: no dream-telling, no medication except for non-training injuries, and no permission to apply for release. Most shocking is the final instruction: he may lie. Jonas recalls lifelong lessons in precise speech and truthfulness and realizes his training will involve pain without relief.
Confronted with the possibility that other adults may also have been permitted to lie at Twelve, Jonas is shaken. Empowered to ask any question yet unable to verify answers, he is left fearing both the coming pain and the fragility of trust within the community.
Who Appears
- JonasNewly selected Receiver; feels isolated, learns strict rules permitting secrecy and lying, and fears pain and eroded trust.
- AsherCongratulates Jonas but hesitates, signaling a subtle strain in their longtime friendship.
- MotherProud of Jonas; explains the failed female Receiver and the name Not-to-Be-Spoken.
- FatherProud and supportive; confirms the community’s prior failed selection and its secrecy.
- LilyEager about volunteering; watches Jonas solemnly, highlighting the family’s changed dynamic.