Event 1- ceremony of 12 and the annex
The ceremony of twelve is held in December. Every child in the community moves up to the next level. During this ceremony changes are announced for the younger members of the community. Each age group receives a ceremonial award. At age twelve, which is the last level, each child finds out what their future work assignments will be. The work assignments are selected for each child by the Elders, based on observation throughout their life. When each child is born they are given a number. That number describes the age and the order that the child was born for that age group. The awards are announced based on their number. For example, since Jonas was the nineteenth born to that age group he would be the nineteenth child to receive his assignment.
During the ceremony Jonas was skipped over. Jonas immediately thought that he had done something wrong. At the end of the ceremony the Chief Elder apologized to Jonas and announced that he had been selected as the new Receiver of Memories. When Jonas receives his instruction he was instructed to go each day to the Annex behind the House of Old and present himself to the attendance. At the end of each training he is to go back home. He was also informed that he was exempted from all rules governing rudeness. In addition, he was not to discuss his training with any other member of the community, including his parents and the Elders. He was also prohibited from dream-telling. He was informed that unless he is ill or injured he is not to take any medication. Under no circumstances was he allowed to apply for release. But the most shocking rule was that he was told that he was permitted to lie. He did not understand why he would he need to lie in his new position and why would he not be allowed to apply for release. Not that in a million years would Jonas want to apply for release. The next day, Jonas follows the instruction and goes to the annex and presents himself to the attendance. Jonas is led to a room that is full of books. That impressed Jonas. A few minutes later he meets The Giver for the first time. The Giver is an old wise man. The Giver instructed Jonas to take off his robe and to lie on the couch on his stomach. The Giver then put his hands on Jonas and transfers a memory. In the memory Jonas saw snow and a sleigh. He got on the sled and rode down a hill. Jonas had never experienced something as beautiful and fun as snow.
During the ceremony Jonas was skipped over. Jonas immediately thought that he had done something wrong. At the end of the ceremony the Chief Elder apologized to Jonas and announced that he had been selected as the new Receiver of Memories. When Jonas receives his instruction he was instructed to go each day to the Annex behind the House of Old and present himself to the attendance. At the end of each training he is to go back home. He was also informed that he was exempted from all rules governing rudeness. In addition, he was not to discuss his training with any other member of the community, including his parents and the Elders. He was also prohibited from dream-telling. He was informed that unless he is ill or injured he is not to take any medication. Under no circumstances was he allowed to apply for release. But the most shocking rule was that he was told that he was permitted to lie. He did not understand why he would he need to lie in his new position and why would he not be allowed to apply for release. Not that in a million years would Jonas want to apply for release. The next day, Jonas follows the instruction and goes to the annex and presents himself to the attendance. Jonas is led to a room that is full of books. That impressed Jonas. A few minutes later he meets The Giver for the first time. The Giver is an old wise man. The Giver instructed Jonas to take off his robe and to lie on the couch on his stomach. The Giver then put his hands on Jonas and transfers a memory. In the memory Jonas saw snow and a sleigh. He got on the sled and rode down a hill. Jonas had never experienced something as beautiful and fun as snow.
event 2- birthmother
At dinner when the family was sharing feelings, Jonas' father shared that he was expecting identical twins to be born the following day. He told his family that he was going to have to release one of the twins. The twin that is usually release is the twin that weighed less. According to the rules one twin must be release because the community was not allowed to have two of the same person. Jonas asked his father how does release happen. His father told Jonas that he makes the newborn comfy and performs a ceremony of release.
event 3-emotions show
When a memory is transferred to a person, the original holder of the memory loses the memory and can never regain it. When Jonas was at the annex with the Giver, Jonas asked the Giver to tell him about his favorite memory. Jonas told the Giver that he did not have to give it away. All Jonas wanted was for the Giver to tell him about the memory. The Giver smiled and said "I'm happy to give it to you". pg. 122. Jonas lied down and the Giver began to transfer the memory. As soon as the memory began, Jonas felt joy and soon after he felt happy. The memory was of a family during Christmas. It was nighttime and it was snowing outside. Inside the home the fire was burning in the chimney. Jonas continued to feel joy and something that he had never felt before... it was love. There was a tree with sparkly lights and present under the tree. Jonas did not understand why there was an outdoor object hanging on the door. Jonas then noticed that elderly people were in the house with the family having fun. Jonas asked the Giver why they were there . The Giver said that they were grandparents. Jonas had never heard elderly people referred to as grandparents but he felt love for them. Jonas suggested that the community should have Christmas and grandparents. He told the Giver that he could be a grandparent.
Jonas desired and wanted love so much that when he went home he asked his parents if they loved him. They asked him to use more precise language and simply replied that they enjoyed him and that they were proud of him.
When the Giver felt pain he would cancel the training with Jonas. One day when Jonas arrived at the annex, the Giver was in a lot of pain. Jonas thought that his training was going to be cancelled. But to his surprise the Giver asked Jonas to please take some of the pain from him because it was unbearable. The Giver began transferring the memory to Jonas. It was a memory of warfare. All of a sudden Jonas found himself on a battlefield where people were dying. There was a guy wounded lying next to him. The guy was begging for water. As Jonas was giving him water, the man died. Jonas started crying. The Giver felt bad and for the rest of the week he only transferred happy memories.
The day after the Jonas received the memory of war, an unscheduled holiday was pronounced. No one including Jonas had to attend school or training. Jonas and his friends got together to play. At that moment, Jonas realized that the game they were playing was a war game. Jonas begged them to stop. All his friends got upset at him for ruining the game and left. Jonas stood there crying remembering the soldier that died.
Jonas desired and wanted love so much that when he went home he asked his parents if they loved him. They asked him to use more precise language and simply replied that they enjoyed him and that they were proud of him.
When the Giver felt pain he would cancel the training with Jonas. One day when Jonas arrived at the annex, the Giver was in a lot of pain. Jonas thought that his training was going to be cancelled. But to his surprise the Giver asked Jonas to please take some of the pain from him because it was unbearable. The Giver began transferring the memory to Jonas. It was a memory of warfare. All of a sudden Jonas found himself on a battlefield where people were dying. There was a guy wounded lying next to him. The guy was begging for water. As Jonas was giving him water, the man died. Jonas started crying. The Giver felt bad and for the rest of the week he only transferred happy memories.
The day after the Jonas received the memory of war, an unscheduled holiday was pronounced. No one including Jonas had to attend school or training. Jonas and his friends got together to play. At that moment, Jonas realized that the game they were playing was a war game. Jonas begged them to stop. All his friends got upset at him for ruining the game and left. Jonas stood there crying remembering the soldier that died.
event 4 - Lying father
Jonas shared with the Giver that his father had release one of the newborn twins that morning. The Giver told Jonas that he wish they did not do that. Jonas did not understand why the Giver had said that. Jonas told the Giver that he wish he could see his father perform the release ceremony which included making the little twin clean and comfy. The Giver asked Jonas if he knew what release was and what happened during release. Jonas was not sure what to answer as he did not know what release really was because children were never allow to watch. The Giver told Jonas that all release were recorded and asked him if he would like to see the recording. Jonas hesitated and therefore, the Giver decided to show Jonas the recording of the twin release. As the recording started, Jonas saw an empty room with a table and a scale he recognized. He turned to the Giver and told him "It's just an ordinary room, I thought maybe they would have it in the Auditorium, so that everyone could come. All the Old go to Ceremonies of Release. But I suppose that when it's just a newborn, they don't---" pg. 148. As the recording continued, Jonas saw his father whispering to one of the little twins. He weighed both twins and gave one to a woman that was standing there waiting. He then saw his father open a cupboard and took a syringe and a small bottle. He saw how his father injected the little twin on the forehead. Jonas at that moment realized that the twin was dead. He heard his father say "All done. That wasn't so bad, was it? ". pg. 150. He waited for the ceremony, but there was none. His father picked a carton box of the flood and put the twin's body in it. He then put the box with the body in the trash can. Jonas was devastated. He could not believe that his father had KILLED the twin . He felt a ripping sensation inside him; it was a terrible pain. He began to sob and shouted "I won't go home, You can't make me". pg. 152. Jonas was so upset and hurt that his father had lied to him. He did not want to go home and begged the Giver to let him stay there for the night.
event 5- the plan
Jonas was very upset seeing the recording of the release that his father had performed on the twin. That night he stayed with the Giver at his house. Jonas could not believe that the community he once loved was capable of killing. The Giver reminded Jonas that they did not know any different. He told Jonas that it was not the fault of the people but of the society. It was at that moment that the Giver and Jonas planned Jonas' escape. He reminded Jonas that once he escaped that he could never return to the community. The Giver told Jonas that he has made him realize that things must change in the community. Jonas asked the Giver to go with him. The Giver told him that he would not make it. He stated that he was very weak and told Jonas that he no longer had the ability of seeing color. He told Jonas that once he escaped, all the memories that he had been holding would be release to the people. The Giver was worried that if he left, the community would be left with no one to help them. It would become very chaotic and they would end up destroying themselves. Both the Giver and Jonas that night stayed up developing a plan for Jonas to escape. They decided that the best time for the escape would be during the Ceremony of Twelve which was scheduled in two weeks.
The next day, Jonas returned home and greeted his family as if nothing happened. All he had to do was wait two weeks and he would be free. That evening everything changed. His father told him that Gabe would be returning to the Nurturing Center the next morning to be release. That night, Jonas grabbed Gabe, took his father's bike and escaped the community. He was on his way to elsewhere with Gabe.
event 6-
Jonas and Gabe's escape was successful. Days had passed and no longer was the community looking for them. However the journey was not easy. They would sleep during the day and travel at night. They would hide under trees and branches. Jonas was running out of food and water was hard to find. The weather was changing and it was getting cooler. They ran across dangerous animals. Every bone in Jonas' body was hurting. But he knew they had to continue As he continued to travel, his muscles became stronger and Jonas was able to travel further with less rest. His memories became weaker the further he travelled away from the community. He kept going even though at times he saw nothing ahead. Jonas kept telling himself that he was certain that his destination to Elsewhere was getting closer and closer. When they reached snow, Jonas was trying to get Gabe to be excited. But Gabe was not as alert as he had been in the beginning of the journey. He was noticeably more quiet, cool, wet and weak. Jonas tried to give him a memory of sun to help him warm up. It worked for a while but was not sufficient to keep them warm and dry. Soon Jonas' powers were completely gone. Jonas ran out of food and began to lose energy. They were cool, wet and starving. The snow got thicker and the weather got cooler. Jonas was able to make it to the top of the hill. There at the top of the hill was a sled. Jonas and Gabe got on the sled and started down the hill; the wind whipping their faces. Jonas felt like he was about to loss consciousness as he tried to stay upright on the sled while holding Gabe. He opened his eyes as they went down the hill. Suddenly he saw light and heard music playing . He was approaching Elsewhere.