Changing a World

(Authors note: This piece is about an important quote from The Giver)

            Jonas lives in a small community in the future where there is just sameness. He lives with his parents, little sister, and a troubled toddler named Gabriel who his father is taking care of.   In his community you do what you are assigned and that’s that. However, when he turned twelve, everything began to change. He was assigned the honorable role as ‘The Receiver of Memory’ and was scheduled to begin training immediately. His role was to carry the memories of the past. In the future, there is no true pleasure and no pain. His mentor is ‘The Giver’ who was the previous receiver and he teaches him about the past. He shows Jonas wonderful things like animals and sledding, but also very painful things, like war and poverty. The only reason for him is to hold memories so that other people don’t have to.

            As Jonas’s training goes on, little Gabriel is restless at his house. He has a year to learn to sleep soundly at night so he can be assigned to a family. Jonas had to promise the government that he would not get attached to this child, because if he failed, he would be put down. Jonas keeps Gabriel calm by feeding him just portions of peaceful memories. Jonas loved Gabriel very much, like a little brother. One day, The Giver gave Jonas the memory of love. It was a family gathered around a Christmas tree opening presents. Jonas was changed by this. He wanted more out of the worthless life people were living in the community. That night, when he was comforting Gabriel, he told him “Things could change Gabe. Things could be different.”

            This quote was pivotal in the novel, because it gave him the drive to do something about the lack of emotion in the community. He and The Giver devised a plan, a plan so simple, but would change the future for the entire community. He would give the memories back to the people. Jonas would be killed if he were caught, so he ran away in the black of night leaving the memories behind. Gabriel was scheduled to be killed, so he took him too. His love for him urged him onward into the unknown. Jonas rode on his bicycle for days until he and Gabe were starving to death. Just as he was about to give up, he reached a place in his memories. He saw civilization, then he collapsed.

            Looking back, this quote set up the climax. It showed the drive Jonas had to make the world a better place. He loved Gabriel in a place where love doesn’t exist. His parents ‘liked’ him and ‘enjoyed his company’, but never loved. Jonas and Gabriel shared a bond that no one had felt for decades, maybe even centuries. It was that bond that led Jonas to the final destination in this book, and to freedom.