The subject of the “failure” from ten years ago comes up, and Jonas asks what happened. The Giver explains that, when she (the last Receiver of Memory) failed, the memories didn’t come back to him. Instead, they were released to the world—everyone had access to them, the way it used to be.

After receiving the memory about the elephant hunt, he tries to share his newfound knowledge of elephants with Lily and his father. The idea comes to him one evening when Lily is playing with her comfort object, which is a stuffed elephant, while Jonas’ father is combing Lily’s hair.

In Ch. 10, the Giver explains to Jonas what memories he holds, although it is difficult for Jonas to understand this. The Giver is the repository for the memories of a bygone world and its citizens. He holds all of the memories for everyone in all the world for all of time.

One day, The Giver transmits his own favorite memory, a memory of love and happiness, to Jonas.

His first disturbing memory was crashing when riding a sled causing him to break his leg (Lowry 103). He screamed and cried. He asks for pain medication (Lowry 104). Jonas is not sure if he wants any more memories because no one else in the community had memories of pain and he felt lonely (Lowry 104).

Just then, Jonas sees a man with a beard and pale eyes seated with the Committee of Elders who seems “oddly separate from [the other Elders].” Continuing her speech, the Chief Elder explains that ten years ago, there had been a failed selection of a Receiver.

The Giver also explains to Jonas that holding onto the painful memories of the past gives them wisdom. Overall, Jonas is required to receive painful memories to ensure comfort throughout his community and to gain the wisdom needed to advise the Committee of Elders when they make significant policy decisions.

Jonas touches Gabe to soothe him and daydreams about a calming memory of a sailboat on beautiful blue water. As a result of this experiment, Jonas learns that he has the ability to deliver a memory to Gabe, then Gabe is able to receive the memory, and the result is a calming effect on the baby.

Before Jonas escapes to Elsewhere, he is supposed to have been given every memory of strength and courage that The Giver can give him. These memories prepare him and Gabriel for the journey by helping Jonas lower his body temperature to avoid the search planes, and providing nourishment when they have no food.

The Giver tells Jonas that his instructors know nothing, despite their scientific knowledge, because all of their knowledge is meaningless without the memories the Giver carries. The Giver decides to give Jonas a memory of strong pain so that he can bear some of the Giver’s pain for him.

In The Giver, when identical twins are born, they are weighed and the smaller one is released. Release is a euphemism for euthanasia, which means that one of the twins is killed by lethal injection. He thinks that his father will make the twin clean and comfy and then the baby will go to live and grow up in elsewhere.

To form identical or monozygotic twins, one fertilised egg (ovum) splits and develops into two babies with exactly the same genetic information. To form fraternal or dizygotic twins, two eggs (ova) are fertilised by two sperm and produce two genetically unique children.

In The Giver, the Ceremony of Twelve is the most important ceremony in Jonas’s community because it is when the adolescent children are given their permanent assignments, which are their individually selected occupations. It is the last ceremony each year and is considered a rite of passage to becoming an adult.

Jonas reappeared for the first time as a full-fledged character — albeit under a different name — in 2004’s Messenger, a sequel to Gathering Blue. And today, his saga (and Gabe’s) finally comes to an end with the release of Son, the first direct sequel to The Giver.

Lois Lowry Says ‘The Giver’ Was Inspired By Her Father’s Memory Loss : NPR. Lois Lowry Says ‘The Giver’ Was Inspired By Her Father’s Memory Loss Lowry’s father didn’t have Alzheimer’s but as he began to forget his past, the author says, she began to imagine a book about eliminating painful memories.