Plot Summary of "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

The novel “The Giver” begins with Jonas, a twelve year old boy who lives in a utopia where there’s no such thing as pain, war, fear, or hatred. In the community he lives everything is pleasant and as fair as possible. With the upcoming national Ceremony of the Twelve, where he’s bound to be assigned his work occupation for the rest of his life. He is nervous about the ceremony so he seeks comfort from his father, a nurturer, who cares for newborns. Also his mother who’s an official in the Department of Justice.

Jonas is unlike everyone else in the community, he has unusual powers of perception. He is the only one in the community that can perceive flashes of color; for everyone else the world is as deprived of color as it is of pain, hunger, and love.

The next day at the Ceremony everyone is given they’re assigned vocation for the rest of their lives, except for Jonas. He’s is assigned the highly honored Assignment of Receiver of Memory. The Receiver is the single keeper of the community’s collective memories. These are the memories of pain, war, and emotion. Someone is assigned to retain these memories, so the community can avoid making mistakes of the past. Jonas is set to receive all of these memories from a wise old man who calls himself the Giver.

The Giver shares his memories by placing his hands on Jonas’s back. The first memory he obtains is of a sled ride. Later on he receives memories of pleasure and pain, of bright beautiful colors and severe weather, of excitement and fright and hunger and love. Those memories start to make Jonas’s life more meaningful, and wants to share these memories with everyone he loves. Although he can’t, everyone in the community has lost the capacity to feel anything in exchange for a peaceful existence. Jonas becomes more and more frustrated with the community, and the Giver, whos felt the same for a very long time, encourages him. Meanwhile, Jonas’s father is worried about Gabe, a newborn who is falling behind on his health expected goals, and has received permission to bring him home. The baby has pale eyes, like Jonas and the Giver, soon Jonas becomes attached to Gabe. More so, after he discovers that he is able to share his memories with Gabe. Jonas learns that if Gabes health does not increase, he’ll be released or taken elsewhere.

The Giver eventually reveals to him what released actually means by showing him a video of his father doing his job. In the video his father unknowingly injects one twin baby with poison before placing the body in a box. After witnessing that, Jonas became filled with anger, confusion and horror.