Chapter 12-19 Summaries by Allison Lindsey

Jonas again had a vision of something changing. Just for a split second, Fiona's hair, like the apple, and audience members faces at the Ceremony of 12, had changed in a way he could not describe. Upon explaining to the Giver what was happening, Giver told Jonas what he was seeing was the color red. Then Giver gave Jonas the memory of color red. Jonas ached for more of these colors. He found himself angry that he didn't have the option to choose red tunic or blue tunic in the morning. Jonas knew that was a trivial thought but it was beyond the color of tunic; it was about the freedom to choose. Jonas began and failed in secretly trying to transmit select pieces of memory to his family and friends. He began to question the community and the Sameness that consumed it. Some days Jonas would go for his trainings but would be sent away because the Giver was so consumed with the pain and weight of the entire world's memories. Troubled by his mentor's agony, Jonas prompted Giver to transmit some of the painful memories to ease the old man. Jonas had sat on the sled eagerly anticipating the exhilirating rush the sled ride would inevitably bring. But, what he received instead was the memory of pain. Pain caused by falling from the sled and breaking his leg. This pain was an intense, throbbing pain. He now knew true physical pain and with no medication to wash it away, the pain lingered. Giver, however, eased Jonas' lessons by always ending with a warm memory, something joyous. Jonas had asked Giver what his favorite memory was; Giver gave Jonas the memory. It was Christmas. It is in this memory that Jonas began longing for grandparents and the LOVE that seaped from the memory. Upon receiving the memory, Jonas went home and tentatively asked his parents if they loved him. They simply laughed at him and told him that "love" is an empty word with no meaning. This saddened Jonas deeply. He overheard his mother complaining about Gabe at night time waking her up; her offered to have Gabe sleep in his room at night. Gabe seemed to sleep soundly until around the middle of the night when "it" happened. Jonas at first tried to lull the restless toddler back to sleep. While Jonas patted Gabe's back, he laid it still while he spoke to the boy. Then it happened. Jonas accidentally transmitted a memory of a sailboat on a lake. Gabe quieted and went to sleep. This was the first of many memories secretly bestowed to Gabe. One morning Jonas awoke and decided he no longer would be taking his "stirring" pills. About a year into training, there came an unexpected community holiday. A great excitement that rarely happened but everyone enjoyed. Jonas rode off on his bike in search of Asher. As he neared the playing field he saw his friends were playing good guys and bad guys. He and his friends had often played this game, but this was different; Jonas now knew that this game represented war and death. Jonas froze, terrified. Confused by Jonas' abnormal reaction to the game, everyone left, everyone except Asher and Fiona. He begged his friends not to play this game again but it was no use. They could not comprehend the concept of war and moreover, his friends could not understand why Jonas was so horrified. Alone in the room, as always during training, Jonas asked Giver about the previous Receiver in training and what happened to her. Giver told him that after 5 weeks of training she requested release. Jonas recalled that that morning his father would have to perform a release on a baby. There was a set of twins and if identical, one would be released; the smallest one. Giver asked Jonas if he would like to watch the release of the baby. This is the single most important event in the novel. Here, everything Jonas had been led to believe about release, that it was a joyous and happy time, was shattered as he watched his father inject the newborn in the soft spot on his frontal lobe. The infants screams chilled Jonas. And then nothing...no squirming, no crying, just stillness. Release was death. Horrified, Jonas watched his father lay the unwrapped baby into a box, close the lid, and shove it down what appeared to be a trash chute.