102 pages • 3 hours read
Lois LowryThe Giver
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1993A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary
Jonas is surprised to see the Annex’s attendant stand when he enters; no one has ever done this for him before. He hears the click of a door unlocking, an unusual occurrence since “[n]o doors in the community were locked, ever. None that Jonas knew of, anyway” (72). The attendant tells Jonas that the locks are for the Receiver’s privacy, because he needs to concentrate. He notices that the furnishings in the Receiver’s home are similar to the standard furnishing in his dwelling and many others, but a touch fancier. The most obvious difference is the book collection, which is large and varied. Jonas never knew so many books existed because he wasn’t allowed to see books other than those in his dwelling. He wonders if any of these books talk about the rules of other communities.
Jonas stares into the Receiver’s pale eyes, which look like his own. He sees that the Receiver is looking back at him with “interest, curiosity, concern, and perhaps a little sympathy as well” (75). As of this day, Jonas is the Receiver, he says. Jonas notices that the outgoing Receiver is particularly old, so he responds as respectfully as possible since elderly people are “always given the highest respect” (76). The Receiver claims he’s not as old as he looks, explaining that the difficult and painful work of the job has aged him. He is also very tired. The elder Receiver invites Jonas to ask questions but explains that he doesn’t have much experience describing the Receiver role since it is forbidden to discuss. He notes that his job is important and honored but emphasizes that he is not perfect: “[W]hen I tried before to train a successor, I failed” (77).
The elder Receiver explains that the role involves holding “the memories of the whole world” (77)including those from the distant past and other places. He will transmit these memories to Jonas, who will hold them until another Receiver is selected in the future. The idea of generations past baffles Jonas: “I thought there was only us. I thought there was only now” (78). The outgoing receiver says he experiences the memories repeatedly while alone in his room. This is how he gains wisdom that is needed for the future, but the memories are a heavy load to bear as well. When preparing to transmit a memory to Jonas for the first time, the old Receiver switches the speaker off, which astonishes Jonas. Having the power to do such a thing seems incredible.
Jonas begins to receive a pleasant memory of snow. The outgoing Receiver shares this memory after comparing the heaviness of his job to the buildup of snow on a sled: “At first it’s exhilarating: the speed; the sharp, clear air; but then the snow accumulates, builds up on the runners, and you slow, you have to push hard to keep going” (78). After making this comparison, he realizes that Jonas has no concept of snow, sleds, or even hills, so he transmits a memory to give him this understanding. He does this by placing his hands on Jonas’s back.
Chapter 11 Summary
As the memory of snow is transmitted, the old Receiver’s hands start to feel cold, as does Jonas’s breath. Before long, he doesn’t feel the Receiver’s touch, just the sensation of the snow. Part of him is aware that his body is in the Receiver’s dwelling, and another part is sitting on a sled. Although his eyes are closed, Jonas can see what is going on. His new consciousness allows him to understand. He knows he’s going down something called a hill on something called a sled: “No voice made an explanation. The experience explained itself to him” (81). Before long, he opens his eyes and sees that he’s back on a bed.
Jonas asks why the community they live in has no snow, sleds, or hills. The outgoing Receiver says that this memory is dated, before the time the community instituted Climate Control. Snow made it hard to grow food, and weather could also hamper transportation, he explains: “It wasn’t a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness”(84). Both he and Jonas wish that snow and the wonders that accompany it still existed, but the old Receiver explains that they don’t have the power to make snow return:“I have great honor. So will you. But you will find that that is not the same as power” (84).
When the elder Receiver transmits a memory to Jonas, it leaves him, providing relief. He tells Jonas that he’s only transmitted pleasant memories so far, but that he will have to share painful ones soon. He has waited to do this because his “previous failure gave him the wisdom to do that” (85). Jonas then receives his first painful memory, which involves getting sunburned. Jonas says it hurt a lot, but that he now has a better understanding of pain. Before the training is done for the day, the old Receiver tells Jonas to call him “The Giver” (87).
Chapter 12 Summary
Unlike baby Gabriel, Jonas sleeps soundly during the night. He dreams of sliding down a snow-covered hill, toward a destination he couldn’t quite perceive. He awakes feeling the need to reach a “welcoming” (88) and “significant” (89) place in the distance, but also unsure how to get there. He does not share this dream with his family because he no longer needs to and because they wouldn’t understand anyway. They have no concept of things like snow and hills.
Jonas meets Fiona at the House of the Old. She explains that even the old get punished for disobedience. Like the small children, they are smacked with the discipline wand. Jonas is seeing beyond progressively more often. While chatting with Fiona, Jonas has another experience of this type: “[I]t wasn’t Fiona in her entirety. It seemed to be just her hair. And just for that flickering instant” (90-91). The length and shape of her hair are the same, but something else is different. Jonas asks the Giver about it. Jonas learns that he perceived the color of Fiona’s hair. It is red, similar to the sled he rode and the apple he tossed. The Giver says that people used to see many colors, and flesh came in a variety of shades before Sameness was instituted. When people chose Sameness, they chose to not see color anymore: “We gained control of things. But we had to let go of others”(95). Jonas says this was a mistake, and the Giver is startled by the force and confidence in the boy’s reaction.
Unlike most people, the Giver sees the full range of colors all the time and says Jonas will someday, too. Right now, Jonas only sees red for a few moments at a time. “We’ve never completely mastered Sameness” (95), the Giver remarks, noting that Fiona’s hair color is unusual. He then gives Jonas a memory of a rainbow.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
The Giver lives alone in the Annex, where he has somewhat fancier furnishings than those of an ordinary community member. This suggests, once again, that the community does not regard everyone as equal. One unique feature of his dwelling is the books. There’s a vast collection of them, and they cover a great many topics that most community members have never heard about. Only the Giver and other Receivers are allowed to see and use these books; others must not know of their existence. It seems that the community’s leaders know that awareness of history and differences is useful, even necessary, but that they regard it as too dangerous for public consumption. Likewise, the Receiver’s wisdom is useful and necessary, but it’s viewed as too risky for everyone to have.
Before the Giver shares a memory with Jonas for the first time, Jonas learns that the community switched to a system of "Sameness" (84) years ago to make life more manageable. Jonas must learn what hills and snow are from a memory because the community has removed these things from the environment in the name of convenience and efficiency. The reader also discovers that the community’s residents gave up color when they committed to Sameness. This choice is symbolic: in draining the color from life, they also drained its vibrancy. With no highs and lows of landscape or emotion, no significant variation in hues or temperatures, they have robbed themselves of excitement and beauty.
Jonas experiences the exhilaration that accompanies differences when he rides a sled in his first received memory. It is such a meaningful experience that it makes him think differently about "differences" (95). After another experience with color—the incident with Fiona’s hair—he concludes that the community should not have adopted Sameness. From here, he begins to see other ways the community should change as well.
Related Titles
By Lois Lowry
