Summary
In the previous chapters, 6 through 8, we view how the December ceremonies take place, and the important role Jonas will be playing in his Community.
In the December ceremonies, every individual in the Community must assist. While parents sat together in a huge hall, the children, from Ones to Elevens, sat together with their group until it was their turn to come up to the stage. Children, when they sat in the stage, had to sit in order of their birth numbers. Jonas, foe example, was number eleven-nineteen. This was because first came the number of group based on their age, then their birth number. First was the Naming ceremony where Nurturers, like Jonas's father, had to come up to the stage and the newborn children were handed to their new family. Newborn children with growing problems, like Gabriel, the child Jonas's father was taking care of, were usually released, though Gabe was given an additional year. That year in the December ceremonies, a couple got a child named Caleb, which would replace the old Caleb that had been lost near a river; loss is different than released, since a loss is very rare. Then came the ceremonies of Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and Eight.
The next day, came the ceremonies of Nine, Ten, Eleven, and Twelve, the day in which Jonas would receive his Assignment. His group sat in order, waiting for their Assignment, along with a small speech by the Chief Elder. First, the Chief Elder gave an opening speech, reminding everyone that people shouldn't point out differences and everyone is equal. While everyone got their Assignments, Jonas was not named, and his number got skipped, from eighteen to twenty.
Jonas was nervous, and though he did something wrong, but once everyone got their Assignments, the Chief Elder apologized. She said that she didn't name Jonas because he was selected. He was chosen to be the successor of the Receiver of Memory, because he had four qualities that any Receiver of Memory should have: intelligence, integrity, courage, and wisdom. She also mentioned that the Receiver of Memory was a hard job, and that he should be set apart from the community to make the right decisions.
Text Responses
"The entire community had performed a Ceremony of Loss together, murmuring the name Caleb throughout an entire day, less and less frequently, softer in volume, as the long and somber day went on, so that the little Four seemed to fade away gradually from everyone's consciousness.
Now, at this special Naming, the community performed the brief Murmur-of-Replacement Ceremony, repeating the name for the first time since the loss:softly and slowly at first, then faster and with greater volume, as the couple stood on stage with the newchild sleeping in the mother's arms." (44)
Here, we can view how the community views people. This is the part where they replace a child they lost, but why replace someone? I find it very rare that this community treats people like material objects you can just simply replace, but you cant replace a human, not when every human has their own personality. Maybe, in this community you can replace individuals because everyone is equal and the same. I also fins it odd the Ceremony of Loss, that they repeat the name over and over during the day until the boy just fades away. And then, how people do the same thing in the Murmur-of-Replacement, but instead of lowering their voice, they raise it up. It is as if they had brought Caleb back, as if he had never left, which I don't understand if this child isn't the old Caleb and cannot replace such. he is a new person, a different one.
"Then the Chief Elder moved ahead in her speech.
'This is the time,' she began, looking directly at them, 'when we acknowledge differences. You Elevens have spent all your years till now learning to fit in, to standardize your behavior, to curb any impulse that might set you apart from the group.
'but today, we honor your differences.They have determined your futures." (52)
Here, the Chief Elder reminds everyone that no one is different. She states that everyone should fit in in the Community and to be like everyone else. Throughout the book, I have questioned myself the same thing: what is so bad about differences in this community? Why is it not okay to fit in? In the real world, differences aren't pointed out as a weird thing. In fact, it is differences which make us human! In school, I was thought that differences were good, not bad, and that people learn how to live with differences because that is how things are. There is no such thing as a bad difference, and with differences, the world is NOT boring. Maybe, in this community, because differences are not pointed out and every one is the same, that people just have to do like everybody else, and I don't think that is right. I think it okay to not point out differences as a bad thing, but why so many rules about differences?
Final Thoughts
After reading the book, The Giver, I learn each time how people in this community live. I am eager to find out how will Jonas prepare to be a Receiver of Memory. Since the Receiver of Memory has to be set apart from the community, I wonder if Jonas will ever see his family and friends again, and how will the current Receiver of Memory treat Jonas. Overall, this community is very strict and straightforward, and I hope Jonas makes good decisions throughout his training and years as a Receiver of Memory. Since Jonas is curious, I hope he can answer my question about differences later on in the book. If Jonas throughout the book, realizes that differences aren't as bad as they told him, I hope he changes some rules that, even though some people will disagree on, it would work for the better. I also want to know what did the current Receiver of Memory mean by saying that Jonas had the Capacity to See Beyond. Did they mean about the time that Jonas saw the apple change in mid-air?
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