The Giver — Chapter 16

About This Passage

After the terrible war memory of Chapter 15, Lowry gives Jonas a happy memory. She fills this passage with warm colors — red, green, yellow, golden — and with gentle things that the Community does not allow: a fire in the house, candles on the table, a tree brought inside just to be pretty. The memory teaches Jonas what warmth feels like, and the careful handwriting of these small details is how a young reader begins to understand why Jonas will soon wish his Community had warmth like this too.

Narration Prompt

In your own words, retell Chapter 16. How does Jonas feel at the very beginning, after the war memory? What happy memory does the Giver give him next? What new word does Jonas learn, and what happens when he asks his Mother and Father about it at dinner?

Discussion Questions

1. At the beginning of the chapter, Jonas says he did not want to go back, that he wanted his childhood again and his scraped knees and ball games. What in the story shows you that the memories are changing Jonas even when he is not in the Annex room? How do you know the Giver understands that Jonas is tired?
2. Jonas asks his Mother and Father, 'Do you love me?' and his father chuckles and tells him the word love is almost obsolete. What in the story makes you think the parents are not being unkind, but still do not understand what Jonas is feeling? How can you tell Jonas now knows something his parents cannot know?

+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide