The Giver Chapter 18

The next day, Jonas asks The Giver about release. The Giver tells him that sometimes his pain makes him want to apply for a release, but he is not allowed to do it until Jonas is trained. Jonas is not ever permitted to request for a release because of the failure of the Receiver ten years ago. Upon Jonas's pleading, The Giver relents and tells him the story about the failed Receiver.

The new Receiver had been a female named Rosemary who had been selected and assigned just as Jonas had been during the Ceremony. She had been "a remarkable young woman," "self-possessed and serene...intelligent, eager to learn." The Giver had loved Rosemary just as he loves Jonas.

Topic Tracking: Feelings 18

When the training began, she did well. In the beginning, she was given good, happy memories, but everything changed for her after she was given a painful memory of a child being taken away from its parents. After that, she was given further memories of poverty, hunger, and terror.

One day, however, after a hard training session, she did not return to her family dwelling. Instead, she went to the Chief Elder to apply for release. Back then, there had not been a rule about not being permitted to apply for release. When she applied, she had been released. But when she was released, the memories she had been given came back to the people. Most of them were happy memories, but there were few painful ones. The community had a hard time coping with them. If Jonas were accidentally lost in the river, all of the memories he has been given will also come back to the people, confusing and tormenting them. "Memories are forever." Chapter 18, pg. 144

Topic Tracking: Memory 18