The Giver — Chapter 13

About This Passage

Lowry stages the surviving elephant's recognition of its companion as a sequence of four verbs — walked, looked, stroked, draped — each slower and more deliberate than the last. The passage is the ethical center of the chapter: an animal the Community insists is 'not real' (Lily's stuffed toy) performs an unmistakable act of mourning, and Jonas must decide what it means that only he has seen it.

Narration Prompt

In five to seven sentences, retell Chapter 13 with attention to the order of Jonas's losses: first the colors he cannot keep, then the friends he cannot reach, then the elephant's roar he cannot unhear, ending with his offer to share the Giver's pain.

Discussion Questions

1. When Jonas argues that Gabriel should be allowed to choose between bright toys, the Giver replies, 'He might make wrong choices,' and Jonas immediately answers, 'Oh. Oh, I see what you mean.' Trace the move Jonas makes in that double Oh. What exactly has he conceded, what has he not conceded, and what does Lowry want the reader to notice about the speed of the concession?
2. The Giver tells Jonas that the Committee rarely seeks his counsel and that life in the Community is 'so orderly, so predictable — so painless.' How does Lowry use the Giver's own weariness as evidence against the Community's definition of a good life, and where is that argument most sharply made?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide