Chapter 15&16

CHAPTER 15 & 16

1) I think it was so important for the giver to share his memories of war and pain with Jonas in order for him to accept the fact that he had to bear much more of the same thing later on in his training. The transmission of the memory of war to Jonas was mostly to ease the pain of the Giver and to make him more comfortable and not have to bear the pain for too much longer. The pain that the Giver describes appears to be excruciating and he is only forced to give it to him under extreme stress. An interesting thing I noticed was that when the Giver gave the memory, Jonas described the fact that he stayed in the trench for an extended duration of time, something like a few hours, even though it was almost impossible for him to really sustain such a long time in training, and so from this, I deduced that in memories, time passes much faster and in real life it must only take a few minutes, even seconds to just give the memory. I think this may be because when Jonas reported on his first memory, he felt the Giver’s hands disappear and I think that was actually how long it took for him to give the memory. For the rest of the time, Jonas probably just lay there to enjoy it.

It was probably also important because he needed more experience for accepting and receiving memories, and also, he needs the memory to determine what is a really painful memory and what is a good memory. Although it was not the Giver’s choice to give the memory, but in a way it has helped Jonas, because it has determined what is one of the worst memories that he can bear. I think this because before, as Jonas stated, when the Giver had a bad memory, he would usually just send him away, proving the fact that it wasn’t bad enough of a memory that the giver couldn’t bear it. This time, the Giver was probably forced to give it because he didn’t just tell Jonas to go away, and even pleaded to Jonas to take some of the pain that was hurting him so terribly.

This situation also shows the feelings that Jonas is starting to have towards the Giver. “ ...hesitated. Unless maybe there’s something I can do to help”. This one sentence shows that he would do many things to make the Giver feel better. I think this because according to what the book previously said about the community, normally people wouldn’t willingly accept pain. I think Jonas wanted to accept the Giver’s pain on this occasion because he felt more feelings towards the Giver. This is because the Giver has given him so much good memories in the past that Jonas feels that if the Giver was in pain, part of himself would be in pain, and if the Giver died of such pain, then he would be losing part of himself. This is similar to what life is like for us now, because if one of our family members dies, then we will probably feel that we have lost a part of ourselves. I have no experience in having people in my family die, so I do not know about this, but I do know (from books) that when someone in your family dies, you undergo a mental breakdown in a way and feel extremely depressed.  

When Jonas underwent this memory, he experienced many, feelings, but I have identified the 3 main feelings, which are sadness, anger, and desperation, and also, in a way understanding.

-sadness; Jonas felt this strong emotion when he saw that the young boy next to him in the memory was actually not much older than him at all, and still had to undergo this type of extreme pain. He also probably felt sad when the young boy died, and also felt sad when he saw so much people around him dying. At the end of his experience, he describes that he would “welcome death himself” when he opens his eyes. This shows that even though he felt such pain, he would rather bear it then let the Giver suffer. This shows his sadness because Jonas realizes that the Giver has to bear these horrible memories every day.

-anger; Jonas felt this emotion when he realized that someone must have caused all this at one point, and he felt angry that so much people must die for some deranged cause. Also, he felt angry after the memory ended because he was astounded that the council would make the decision to make the Giver bear such horrible and destructive memories, without worrying in any way about his mental health.

-desperation; Jonas felt this when he saw the ‘dull blankness’ that slid over the young boy’s eyes, and he realized that the boy had died. He became desperate to not die himself, and he became desperate in hope that not much more people would die. He was also desperate for some sort of rescue, and because he aroused this hope and no one had saved him, he felt in an even worse spirit.

I think the Giver asked for forgiveness because he regretted his mistake, or I suppose choice. At the beginning of the chapter the Giver makes the (wrong?) choice to transmit the memory of war to Jonas. This choice was probably made in complete desperation and in hope that it would make life better. All humans lack the ability to see completely ahead to what the consequence of what an action will be while they are in pain, and so the Giver did not attempt to estimate the aftereffect of what would happen if he transmitted the memory of war to Jonas. I think this is why he apologized, to attempt to make up for the mistake he realized he had just committed. It acted as his last attempt to right what he did wrong, as he realized that Jonas was only a child and he could only take so much. I realize that Jonas took it well, because he has a strong sense of duty. “ But the choice was not his, every day he returned to the Annex room “ this quote shows that he still knows and is aware that he has to continue doing what he has to do and he still feels that the choice is not his, even though he has already been given the right to lie. This strong sense of responsibility comes with the fact that was probably implanted in his brain from the moment he was born, do not lie.

2) The similarities for the 2 memories of war and family are listed below

-In both memories, the feelings penetrated very quickly into Jonas’s thought even though they are on ‘opposite ends of the feeling spectrum’ (horrible analogy). Both memories feelings showed clearly and quickly because both were very important on their feeling spectrum.  These feelings were significant in the way they just are.

- In both memories, the feelings lasted throughout the entire memory and did not stop until the end. I think this was caused by the significance of emotion in it. I feel that in the 2 memories, the emotions specified resembled each other in a completely different way. It’s like saying “the same difference”, because they both are the same, but are opposites at the same time

- Both memories have some influence in his average lifestyle. With the happy memory, Jonas perceived what is known as love, and he wanted it, in a different form. Because he appears to only have that one memory of love, then he might desire more in jealousy or in human nature, which is wanting something that we don’t have. By not taking the pill -which is a part of Jonas’s regular routine- Jonas defies the bounds of the communities control and allows himself to have happiness, instead of the fake imitation the community elders try to feed him. In the war scene, Jonas realizes that in becoming this community they have eliminated it, and he is very content there is no more of such emotional and physical punishment to the soldiers, and i think even though he wants good memories, he feels that the community has done the right thing in removing war, but as he experiences the second memory about love, he realizes that you can’t really have a good memory without pain in your life, and he realizes that things were better the way they used to be.

3) The wisdom Jonas is gaining from the memories signifies an entry into a better future. In acquiring this wisdom, he achieves a new level of self confidence and feels that he can roam more and have more freedom in his usually regulated life of uninteresting events. It is almost as if the memories have revived him from the past, and taught him how people before used to live. By learning about pain Jonas understands why people were forced into the situation in which they had to become this community, and Jonas can also learn how to do many things and also how to learn from mistakes. He also can understand why some people were wrong in their decision, and other’s were right. By learning about good memories of wonderful experiences, Jonas perceives how he can make this community better. Also from the good memories he knows what the past is like and learns from how they operated. In the community, the only reason they need Jonas as the receiver is because the community needs him to make very tough decisions. When the community decided about having birth-mothers not have 3 children it was not because they realized that if there were too much people, there wouldn’t be enough food, but actually made the decision because they were depending on the fact that the Giver would not lie to them and he would tell the council everything they need to know without suspicion, even though he can lie freely. It is this false trust that operates the entire community. The false trust that made everyone in the community not have feelings at all and be scared to ask questions just because they think its the tiniest bit rude.

4) I think the main point that Jonas was basing his argument on was that there was a fire in the room. Also, i think  he didn’t really want to argue with the giver, just he was afraid someone was listening and would label him different from society. I suppose in a community dedicated to ‘sameness’ everyone has to be the same, but by defying the rules in the community against love, Jonas worries that someone will think he is weird, even though no one is listening.  Because the Giver is so accustomed to his way of living and thinking in isolation, he is not afraid to share his feelings about the situation, and he feels normal talking about it, even though Jonas does not. The two entirely different perspectives represent how Jonas is so new in the world and The Giver is so aged and experienced. Technically, he has experienced all the pain in the world, and so i would think he is very wise. Also, i think the giver sees this way because he has so much bad memories that he thinks that just having one good memory is good enough for him, and so he has learned to appreciate less things more. I suppose when the Giver had not yet acquired such wisdom yet he was very much like Jonas, because  he could not possibly know of what horrors exist and how much exist. Jonas seems to represent a new understanding, or a new way of looking at things. He might develop a completely different perspective on the memories that the Giver gives to him, and i think the influence he will get from the memories will eventually ‘weigh him down’ and make him like the giver, sitting there in pain every day.

The Giver probably also thought that the way the people lived was more complete because the room had a lot more feelings in it that just one person would. As Jonas describes  “an understanding of solitude and its joy” it shows that even if you are alone you can still have happiness and that you can still be separate from society without feeling sad. This plays a major role in Jonas’s life because he has always been afraid of being separated from society, but as he enjoys this memory, he realizes that it ‘isn’t so bad’. Jonas assumes that the Giver likes the memory of love because if one person can have so much joy in loneliness, then there must be more joy in a room full of people. Jonas is thinking on a completely logical point of view, and he thinks that if you add 1 person’s joy plus another person’s joy, then shouldn’t you have 2 person’s joy together? I think this way of thinking is logically correct, but it might feel better if you think about it in a different way.  In a room full of people all happy, then all the happiness is grouped in that little area, and everyone is happier.

5) By not taking the pill, Jonas manages to:

-directly disobey the community, which is a rather large offense. I think this is Jonas’s first act of defiance in attempt to make the world better and restore joy and memories to the bleak world as it is in the book. This action might lead to more people following in Jonas’s lead because he has great honour, and probably a good reputation too. Eventually, all the people in the community will start to not take their pill, which will lead to an onrush of emotion, and a protest or a riot.

-allowing emotions. According to the book, the pill blocks ‘stirrings’ which appear to be feelings towards someone else, so basically pills block feelings. By not taking the pill, Jonas is allowing emotions and feelings and he is allowed to want something in his life, instead of having no wantings, no feelings, and no jealousy, which are all human nature.

-choice. By not taking the pill, he has just made a very small and insignificant choice in his life, but it was still a choice. The problem is that in this community there is no will for choice, and Jonas just made one, even though it was tiny, but by choosing to take the pill or not, he has just made an accomplishment that will probably help him make more choices later on in his life.