Chapters 17 and 18: Summary

As an unscheduled holiday is announced over the loudspeaker, everyone is able to take the day off from work, school, training, and volunteer hours. Ironically, Lowry writes, “the community was free.” Jonas finds Asher, Fiona, and the other children playing in the field. They are playing the game of “good guys versus bad guys,” a make-believe war game. Jonas decides not to participate because he realizes that it is making a game out of war.

Jonas finds out that identical twins will be born the next day and that one of the twins will be released to “Elsewhere.” Jonas’ father tells him that he will only select the child with the lowest birth weight for the release.

During his time with the Giver, Jonas asks him if he wonders about his own release. The Giver tells Jonas that he cannot ask for his own release until the new Receiver (Jonas) has been trained. Jonas finds out that he too cannot ask for his own release on account of what had happened to Rosemary the previous Receiver, ten years ago. At Jonas’ request, the Giver finally explains what had happened to Rosemary.

The Giver began training her by giving her happy, joyful memories. However, she had wanted to experience all kinds of emotions and memories, including those of pain and anguish. She’d even felt it was her duty to share the burden of pain. But one day, after receiving a few painful memories, Rosemary said goodbye to the Giver, left the Annex, and asked to be released. When Rosemary was released after just five weeks of training, the community was in turmoil. All the memories she’d received returned to the people in the community, who were unable to deal with the grief and reality.

Chapters 17 and 18: Analysis

These chapters explain the differences between Jonas and other children. Jonas is more mature and wise; the knowledge of pain and suffering makes it difficult for him to engage with the other kids, playfully and otherwise. He is now aware that his choices and decisions will affect the community at large. Effectively, Jonas is more burdened than any child his age.

Ironically, the release of one of the identical twins shows that the community’s vision of sameness has little room for identical persons or things. Following the theories of Darwin, the community insists on getting rid of the weaker twin.

Rosemary’s case highlights the challenges of the Receiver’s role. Given the serious consequences of a mistake on the Receiver’s part, there is almost no room for failure. Further, it also speaks to the community’s inability to deal with any adverse memory and circumstance.