Very Short Summary
In a strictly regulated community where sameness and order prevailed, a twelve-year-old boy was selected as the next Receiver of Memory during the annual Ceremony of Twelve.
Jonas began his training with the current Receiver, who asked to be called The Giver.
Through physical contact, The Giver transmitted memories of experiences unknown to their community: colors, weather, emotions, and both joy and pain. Jonas learned that their society had chosen Sameness to eliminate suffering, but in doing so had also eliminated deep feelings and true choices. Meanwhile, his father, a Nurturer, brought home a struggling infant named Gabriel for extra care. Jonas discovered he could transmit memories to Gabriel to soothe him.
When Jonas learned that 'release' - a common practice in their community for the old, the sick, and unwanted newchildren - was actually lethal injection, he was horrified. After witnessing his father release a newborn twin, Jonas and The Giver formulated a plan for Jonas to escape, which would force the community to face the memories and emotions they had suppressed.
If he had stayed, he would have starved in other ways. He would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for color, for love. And Gabriel? For Gabriel there would have been no life at all.
When Jonas learned that Gabriel was scheduled for release, he fled with the infant that night instead of waiting to execute their original plan. They traveled for days through harsh conditions, pursued by search planes, growing weaker from hunger and cold. Finally, as they crossed a snowy hill on a sled, Jonas saw lights and heard music from what he believed was Elsewhere, though he remained uncertain whether this was real or a final hallucination.
Detailed Summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Life in the Community Before the Ceremony
In a highly regulated community where every aspect of life was controlled, twelve-year-old Jonas lived with his family unit, consisting of his parents and his seven-year-old sister Lily. The community operated under strict rules that governed everything from language precision to family formation. Each family unit was assigned exactly two children - one male and one female.
Jonas's father worked as a Nurturer at the Nurturing Center, caring for newchildren, while his mother held a position in the Department of Justice. Their family unit temporarily housed a newchild named Gabriel, who had trouble sleeping through the night and required special care.
Life in the community was predictable and safe, with every detail carefully controlled. Children progressed through age groups marked by specific ceremonies and milestones. Jonas's best friend Asher was known for his playful nature and imprecise use of language, while their friend Fiona was gentle and caring.
As Jonas approached his Ceremony of Twelve, where he would receive his life's Assignment, he began to feel apprehensive. Unlike his peers, who were excited about their future roles, Jonas felt uncertain about what lay ahead. His feelings were deeper and more complex than the superficial emotions typically discussed in the community's evening ritual of sharing feelings.
Jonas's Selection and Early Training
At the Ceremony of Twelve, the Chief Elder shocked the community by skipping Jonas during the Assignment announcements. She later revealed that Jonas had been selected for a rare and honored position: he was to become the next Receiver of Memory. The current Receiver would train him, and Jonas would eventually hold all the memories of the past for the entire community.
For the first time in his twelve years of life, Jonas felt separate, different. He remembered what the Chief Elder had said: that his training would be alone and apart.
Jonas began his training with the current Receiver, who asked to be called The Giver. The elderly man with pale eyes like Jonas's own possessed all the memories of the past and was tasked with transferring them to Jonas. Through physical touch, The Giver began sharing memories, starting with pleasant experiences like snow, sunshine, and hills - concepts unknown in their climate-controlled, topographically engineered world.
The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared... That's why we have you, to protect them from the memories.
The Giver explained that their community had chosen Sameness - the elimination of differences, weather variations, and color - to create a more stable society. However, someone needed to hold the memories of the past to provide wisdom when unexpected situations arose. The last attempt to train a new Receiver had failed tragically when the selected girl, Rosemary, had asked for release after receiving painful memories.
Discovering Colors and Feelings
As Jonas received more memories, he began to experience changes in his perception. He started seeing colors, beginning with the color red in an apple and in Fiona's hair. The Giver explained that the community had given up colors when they chose Sameness, but Jonas's capacity to 'see beyond' allowed him to perceive them. Along with colors came deeper emotions and sensations that the rest of the community had never experienced.
He found that he was often angry, now: irrationally angry at his groupmates, that they were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on.
Jonas discovered that he could transmit memories to Gabriel when the newchild was restless at night, sharing peaceful scenes to help him sleep. He also stopped taking the pills that suppressed the Stirrings - the beginning of physical attraction that all adults in the community chemically suppressed. As his awareness grew, Jonas became increasingly frustrated with the limitations and lack of genuine emotion in his community.
He knew that he could change nothing. The choice was not his. He returned each day to the Annex room... He did not want the memories, didn't want the honor, didn't want the wisdom, didn't want the pain.
The memories became increasingly difficult as The Giver began sharing experiences of pain, hunger, war, and death. Jonas learned about the deep love that once existed in family relationships, including the concept of grandparents, which had been eliminated in their community. He attempted to share these feelings with his family but found they were incapable of understanding such deep emotions.
The Dark Truth About Release
Jonas's understanding of his community was shattered when he learned the truth about release. His father was scheduled to release a newchild twin, and Jonas asked to watch the recording of the ceremony. To his horror, he discovered that release was actually lethal injection - his father calmly administered the injection to the smaller twin, disposed of the body, and cheerfully waved goodbye.
The Giver revealed that this was how all releases were performed - for the Old, for those who broke rules, and for newchildren who failed to thrive. He shared that Rosemary, whom Jonas now knew had been The Giver's daughter, had chosen to inject herself when she asked for release. When she died, her memories had been released back to the community, causing chaos until they faded.
The community had to bear the burden themselves, of the memories you had been holding for them... When your memories return, they'll need help. They'll be thrown into chaos. They'll destroy themselves.
Planning and Beginning the Escape
The revelation about release became even more urgent when Jonas learned that Gabriel was scheduled to be released the next day due to his continued sleep problems. Jonas and The Giver had already been forming a plan for Jonas to escape the community, which would force the people to face the returned memories and eventually lead to positive change. The impending release of Gabriel forced them to act immediately rather than wait for their carefully planned date.
The Giver would remain behind to help the community cope with the returning memories and the chaos that would follow Jonas's departure. He revealed that after his work was done, he wanted to join his daughter Rosemary in death. That night, instead of following their original plan, Jonas took his father's bicycle with a child seat and fled with Gabriel, taking some food and leaving no explanation.
The Journey to Elsewhere
Jonas and Gabriel's journey was grueling. They traveled by bicycle at night and hid during the day to avoid search planes. Jonas used his ability to transmit memories to give Gabriel feelings of cold when the planes used heat-seeking devices to try to locate them. As they moved farther from the community, Jonas could feel the memories starting to fade, knowing they were returning to the people he had left behind.
The terrain became increasingly difficult as they encountered hills and adverse weather for the first time. They faced hunger, cold, and exhaustion. Jonas began to experience memories of places he had never been shown by The Giver, suggesting they were moving into territory that still held the feelings and sensations that had been eliminated from his community. Despite their hardships, Jonas remained determined to reach Elsewhere, where he believed they would find the happiness and love that his community had sacrificed for Sameness.
Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.