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The Giver
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
The old man keeps “the memories of the whole world,” and he says he is “so weighted with them.” Is being the one who keeps them a job worth wanting?
The tension Jonas expects to hear an old man's stories of his own childhood, the kind the Old tell at the House of the Old; instead he is told it is “the memories of the whole world,” and he answers, “I thought there was only us. I thought there was only now.”
What the Annex and the old man show Jonas on his first afternoon: that there are more books, more places and more time than he was ever told.
The chapter follows Jonas through the first afternoon of his training. At the House of the Old, Fiona goes in to her own training, nervous though she has been there often; even the nameplates on their bicycles have changed overnight. Jonas goes around to the Annex, a small, ordinary wing at the back. At the speaker he stumbles over what to call himself. Inside, an Attendant stands when he enters, which no one has ever done for him, and calls him Receiver of Memory; he asks her to call him Jonas. She unlocks the inner door, though no door in the community is ever locked, and explains that the lock is only for the Receiver's privacy: there is nothing dangerous here, but he does not like to be kept waiting. The room inside is like a family dwelling, but each thing is slightly finer: thicker fabrics, curved and carved table legs, a bed covered with an embroidered cloth. Most striking are the books. Jonas has seen only a dictionary, the community volume and the Book of Rules; here the walls are lined with hundreds, perhaps thousands. The man waiting for him is the Elder who seemed separate at the Ceremony, with pale eyes like Jonas's own. Jonas apologizes and gets no standard answer. He says he is not anything yet; the man says that to him, from this moment, Jonas is The Receiver. The man looks very old but says the job has aged him; the last selection failed ten years ago, his energy is fading, and they have hard work to do. He remembers his own first day as a frightened Twelve, invites questions, admits he is not perfect and once failed to train a successor. Jonas has a million questions and asks none. Jonas offers to hear the stories of the man's childhood, as he has at the House of the Old; the man waves away his apology, saying they haven't time, and explains that he must pass on the memories of the whole world, from generations back. Jonas had thought there was only us and only now. The man says there is all that is Elsewhere and all that goes back, that he goes over it alone again and again, and that he is so weighted with it. He compares it to a sled slowed by snow, then sees that Jonas knows no snow, no sled, no downhill, and says it is a place to start. He has Jonas lie face down on the bed, snaps the speaker's switch to OFF, which astonishes Jonas, tells him it will not be painful, and says he will transmit the memory of snow as he places his hands on Jonas's back.
Before reading, ask the student what they would expect to find behind a door that no one else may open. Read aloud from the opening to “But,” she added, glancing at the wall clock, “he doesn't like to be kept waiting.” and stop. Ask only what has already been different for Jonas today, and keep to what the page says. Read on through the room and the books, to “Could there be more descriptions of offices and factories and committees?” Ask what Jonas guesses the books hold, without saying what they do hold. Read on through the meeting to “In his mind, Jonas had questions. A thousand. A million questions.” and the rest of that paragraph. Ask what question the student would ask first. Then read from “The man sighed” to the end without stopping, so the switch and the last line come as they do for Jonas. At the end, ask what Jonas knows now that he did not know when he buzzed at the door. Do not say what receiving a memory feels like, or what lies Elsewhere: the chapter does not show either.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in three parts. First the way in: Fiona at the House of the Old, the buzzer, the Attendant who stands, and the locked door. Then the room and the man: the finer furniture, the walls of books, the apology with no answer, the tired man who says the job has aged him and that he failed once. Last the talk and the start: the memories of the whole world, “only us” and “only now,” the sled in the snow, the switch on the speaker, and the hands on Jonas's back. Ask for three or four sentences of the student's own for each part.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes three or four sentences of their own about walking into a room unlike any they know. Ask for one sentence that joins two thoughts with a semicolon, and turns on “not ... but,” like “not straight like those at home, but slender and curved.” Ask for one sentence with a place set off by commas before the verb, like “in an alcove at the far end of the room.” Then ask for one sentence with a guess corrected between two dashes, like “hundreds—perhaps thousands—,” followed by two short sentences.
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First make two lists together. What the job gives: “enormous honor,” an Attendant who stands when the Receiver walks in, a finer room, walls of books, the switch that turns the speaker off, and what the man calls “how wisdom comes.” What the job takes: a body that looks older than it is, tired eyes, a strength that is starting to diminish, a failure ten years ago, going over the memories “all alone,” and a weight he can only describe as snow piling on a sled. One side argues the job is worth wanting. The other argues it is not. Each side gives a reason and a line from the chapter, and answers one from the other side. No one may say what receiving a memory feels like, or why the community gave its memories to one person: the chapter does not show either.
Purpose Close with the writer's choices about the ending. The man's sled picture “meant nothing” to Jonas, who does not know what snow is, and the man turns that into the first lesson: “Well, it's a place to start.” Ask the student why the writer might let the first memory grow out of a picture that did not reach Jonas. Then read the last line, where the chapter stops as the hands touch Jonas's back. Ask why the writer might stop there, before anything happens, and not one moment later. Leave the question open, as the chapter does.
Easier Read aloud together from “It's the memories of the whole world,” to “I am so weighted with them,” he said. Make two lists: what Jonas thought there was before this talk, and what the man tells him there is. Talk through the first discussion question (“Call me Jonas”) and the fifth (the books and the switch), then answer the last written question aloud.
On level Talk through the five discussion questions in order, then have the student write answers to the three written questions in complete sentences, each with a reason and a line from the chapter.
Harder Ask the student to write the last written question as an argument: a claim, the strongest reason against it, and an answer to that reason. Then read the man's memory of his own first day: “The previous Receiver seemed just as old to me as I do to you. He was just as tired as I am today.” Ask whether the student was judging the job for the man, or for Jonas, and whether that line changes the answer. The answer must not say what receiving a memory feels like, or why the community gave its memories to one person: the chapter shows neither.
1. The Attendant stands up when Jonas walks in, and no one has ever done that for him before. What is he turning down when he says, “Call me Jonas”?Character
What it asks It asks the student to look at Jonas's first moment in the Annex. At the speaker, he cannot even say what he is: “It's, uh, Jonas. I'm the new—I mean—” Inside, the Attendant stands when he enters. “It was a small thing, the standing,” but no one had ever stood for him before. She says, “Welcome, Receiver of Memory,” and he answers “uncomfortably,” asking her to call him Jonas. Minutes later he tells the old man, “I'm not anything at all. Not yet.” The student decides what Jonas is turning down: an honor he has not earned yet, or being set apart from everyone else. It takes up one part of the last written question: what comes with this job besides the work itself. The talk should not say what the job will cost Jonas later; the chapter has only begun to show it.
An honor he has not earned. He was picked only yesterday and has done nothing yet. To him, the title belongs to the old man. Being stood for, and called by a title, feels like praise for work he has not done.
I'm only, well, I was only assigned, I mean selected, yesterday.
I'm not anything at all. Not yet.
Being set apart. No one has ever stood up for him. In a town where people are treated the same, the standing makes him different from everyone. His own name keeps him one of them.
It was a small thing, the standing; but no one had ever stood automatically to acknowledge Jonas's presence before.
"Oh, please," he replied uncomfortably.
A strong answer A strong response might say Jonas turns down an honor he has not earned: he was “only assigned, I mean selected, yesterday,” and he tells the old man, “I'm not anything at all. Not yet.” Another might say he turns down being set apart: “no one had ever stood automatically to acknowledge Jonas's presence before,” and he answers “uncomfortably,” asking for his own name. A careful answer may notice that the old man does not let him off: “Beginning today, this moment, at least to me, you are The Receiver.”
2. The book says, “No doors in the community were locked, ever.” Then it adds, “None that Jonas knew of, anyway.” What does that second line add?Author's choice
What it asks It asks the student to look at one short line in the lobby. The Attendant pushes a button, and a click unlocks the door to the man's room. Then she seems to notice Jonas's discomfort. The narration says, “No doors in the community were locked, ever. None that Jonas knew of, anyway.” The Attendant explains that the lock is only “to insure The Receiver's privacy because he needs concentration,” and says, “There is nothing dangerous here.” The student decides what the second line adds that the first does not. It takes up one part of the last written question: what the keeper holds that no one else in the community knows about. The talk should not say the lock makes the room dangerous; the Attendant says it does not. It should not guess at what else may be locked; the chapter does not say.
A doubt about the community. The first line states a rule. The second admits that Jonas knows only what he has been shown. If this door is locked, there may be other things he was never told about. A few minutes later he finds walls of books he never knew existed.
None that Jonas knew of, anyway.
He had never known that other books existed.
Jonas's own careful voice. The line corrects itself, the way Jonas does all afternoon. He fixes his words even as he speaks, because here he wants to say exactly what he means. The second line is Jonas being exact about what he knows.
But I thought—I mean I think
if precision of language were ever to be important, it was certainly important now
A strong answer A strong response might say the line plants a doubt: after “No doors in the community were locked, ever,” it admits, “None that Jonas knew of, anyway,” and soon Jonas faces books he never knew of: “He had never known that other books existed.” Another might say the line is Jonas being exact, as he tries to be all afternoon: “But I thought—I mean I think,” he says to the man, because “if precision of language were ever to be important, it was certainly important now.” A careful answer may notice that the Attendant explains the lock at once, “to insure The Receiver's privacy,” and adds, “There is nothing dangerous here.”
3. The man says his job has “enormous honor.” In the same breath, he says he once tried to train the next Receiver and failed. Why would he tell Jonas that before they even begin?Character
What it asks It asks the student to look at how the old man speaks of himself. He is an Elder in special clothing, and he says, “My job is important and has enormous honor.” But he also says, “that does not mean I am perfect,” and that when he tried before to train a successor, he failed. He chuckles that he “may neglect to make things as clear as I should,” and he has said the failure “was ten years ago, and my energy is starting to diminish.” The student decides why he tells Jonas this before the training even starts. It takes up one part of the last written question: what this job is like from the inside, for the one who holds it. The talk should not say who the failed trainee was or what went wrong; the chapter does not say.
To make Jonas free to ask. He says it right after “You may ask questions,” and right before “Please ask any questions that will help you.” If even the Receiver is not perfect, Jonas need not be afraid of looking foolish.
So I may neglect to make things as clear as I should.
Please ask any questions that will help you.
Because time is short. He is tired and his strength is going. Ten years have passed since the last selection failed. He cannot fail again, and telling Jonas about the failure shows him how much is riding on this.
The failure of the previous selection was ten years ago, and my energy is starting to diminish.
I need what strength I have remaining for your training.
A strong answer A strong response might say he wants Jonas to feel free to ask: he admits, “So I may neglect to make things as clear as I should,” and then says, “Please ask any questions that will help you.” Another might say he is showing how much is at stake: “The failure of the previous selection was ten years ago, and my energy is starting to diminish,” and “I need what strength I have remaining for your training.” A careful answer may notice that he chuckles as he says it, so the man who holds this honor can still laugh at himself.
4. The man is telling Jonas about a sled ride, and he stops in the middle, at “and—.” Why does he stop there?Character
What it asks It asks the student to look at the moment the man's picture breaks off. He has just said, “I am so weighted with them,” after he “rested for a moment, breathing deeply.” Then he searches for words: “It's like going downhill through deep snow on a sled.” At first it is “exhilarating,” but the snow builds up, and “you slow, you have to push hard to keep going, and—” There he stops. He shakes his head, peers at Jonas and asks, “That meant nothing to you, did it?” The student decides why he stops where he does: because he sees the picture is lost on Jonas, or because the end of it is too hard to say. It takes up one part of the last written question: what carrying the memories does to the man who holds them. The talk should not turn into a puzzle about words Jonas does not know, and should not say what receiving a memory feels like.
He sees Jonas's face. The picture is not reaching Jonas, so he stops to check. He was not done; he was trying to be clear, as he said he might fail to be.
He shook his head suddenly, and peered at Jonas.
That meant nothing to you, did it?
The end is too hard to say. The picture is about him: the slowing and the pushing. He had to rest before he could even begin, and the words were hard to find. The worst of the ride comes after “and—,” and he may not want to say it.
He rested for a moment, breathing deeply.
The man paused, seeming to search his mind for the right words of description.
A strong answer A strong response might say he stops because he sees Jonas: “He shook his head suddenly, and peered at Jonas,” and asked, “That meant nothing to you, did it?” Another might say the end is too hard to say: the picture is of his own slowing, and just before it he “rested for a moment, breathing deeply,” and said, “I am so weighted with them.” A careful answer may notice that he makes the stop a beginning, “Well, it's a place to start,” and that the first memory he chooses is snow.
5. Jonas only stares at the walls of books. Why does one switch on the speaker make him almost gasp?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to set two of Jonas's reactions side by side. Jonas has seen only three books in his life: a dictionary, the community volume and the Book of Rules. “He had never known that other books existed.” Here the walls hold hundreds, perhaps thousands, and “Jonas stared at them.” He guesses they might hold “rules beyond the rules” or “more descriptions of offices and factories and committees.” Near the end, the man walks to the speaker, “the same sort of speaker that occupied a place in every dwelling,” and snaps its switch to OFF. “Jonas almost gasped aloud.” The student decides why one small switch hits him harder than thousands of books. It takes up one part of the last written question: what this job holds that no one else in the community has. Let the student find why the switch matters in what the speaker is: in every dwelling. A student may remember from earlier chapters what the speakers do; the card should not tell them.
He knows what a speaker is. There is one in every home, and he has lived with it all his life. So he knows at once what turning it off means. The books are a blank to him; he cannot picture what is in them.
It was the same sort of speaker that occupied a place in every dwelling, but one thing about it was different.
He couldn't imagine what the thousands of pages contained.
He takes the books for more of what he already knows. His guesses are more rules and more lists of offices. That is a surprise, but not a shock. The switch is not more of the same. It is a power he never knew anyone had.
Could there be rules beyond the rules that governed the community?
To have the power to turn the speaker off!
A strong answer A strong response might say he knows the speaker and not the books: it is “the same sort of speaker that occupied a place in every dwelling,” while “He couldn't imagine what the thousands of pages contained.” Another might say he takes the books for more of the same, wondering about “rules beyond the rules,” while the switch is new: “To have the power to turn the speaker off!” A careful answer may notice that the books show him how much he does not know, while the switch shows him what this man is allowed to do.
1. Jonas says he is sorry, and the man waves it away: “No apologies in this room. We haven't time.” Is time his only reason?
What it asks It asks the student to look past the reason the man gives. Jonas apologizes twice. The first time, for his “lack of understanding,” he waits, “but the man did not give the standard accepting-of-apology response.” The second time, for interrupting, “The man waved his hand impatiently. ‘No apologies in this room. We haven't time.’” By then the man has said that his energy “is starting to diminish” and that “We have hard and painful work to do, you and I.” But the first silence comes before he has said anything about time. The student decides whether time is the whole reason, and writes it with a reason from the chapter. It takes up one part of the last written question: what the job asks of the people inside this room. The card should not say what the training will be like, and should not say the room is dangerous.
Yes, time. The man is tired, and his strength is going. He has hard work ahead and little energy for it. Every sorry and every answer to it uses up time he does not have. He waves it off “impatiently,” like a man in a hurry.
We have hard and painful work to do, you and I.
The man waved his hand impatiently.
No. This room runs on other rules. The first apology got no answer before time came up at all. Here the door is locked, and later the speaker can be turned off. The man wants Jonas to speak plainly, not to fall back on the polite words the community uses everywhere else.
He waited, but the man did not give the standard accepting-of-apology response.
No apologies in this room.
A strong answer A strong response might say time is the reason: the man has said, “We have hard and painful work to do, you and I,” and here “The man waved his hand impatiently.” Another might say this room has its own rules: the first time, “He waited, but the man did not give the standard accepting-of-apology response,” before the man had said anything about time, and he says “No apologies in this room,” not everywhere. A careful answer may notice that both can be true, a tired man in a hurry in a room where the community's polite words are not needed, and that right after, Jonas speaks more plainly: “But I don't exactly understand why it's so important.”
2. Jonas says, “I thought there was only us. I thought there was only now.” Which is the bigger shock for him: more places, or more past?
What it asks It asks the student to pull apart the two halves of Jonas's discovery. He expects the man's childhood stories, like the ones the Old tell at the House of the Old. Instead the man says, “It's the memories of the whole world,” from “Before you, before me, before the previous Receiver, and generations before him.” Jonas asks, “Do you mean not just us? Not just the community? Do you mean Elsewhere, too?” He already has a word for other places. But he says he does not know what “generations before him” means. The man answers that there is “all that is Elsewhere” and “all that goes back, and back, and back.” The student decides which half shakes Jonas more, more places or more past, and writes it with a reason from the chapter. It takes up one part of the last written question: what the keeper holds that no one else does. The card should not say what lies Elsewhere or what the past holds; the chapter names both and shows neither.
More past. Jonas knows the word Elsewhere and asks about it himself. But the only past he knew was the childhoods the Old tell about. A past that goes back for generations is something he has no picture for at all.
Do you mean Elsewhere, too?
The Old like to tell about their childhoods, and it's always fun to listen.
More places. Jonas has lived his whole life inside one community. Until today, the only books he knew were a dictionary, the community volume and the Book of Rules. His first questions to the man are all about places.
Do you mean not just us? Not just the community?
He had never known that other books existed.
A strong answer A strong response might say the past is the bigger shock: Jonas already has a word for other places, since he asks, “Do you mean Elsewhere, too?”, but the only past he knew was the Old telling “about their childhoods,” and he says, “I thought there was only now.” Another might say other places shake him more: his first questions are “Do you mean not just us? Not just the community?”, and until today “He had never known that other books existed.” A careful answer may notice that the man holds both halves, “all that is Elsewhere” and “all that goes back,” and says, “I received all of those, when I was selected.”
3. The old man keeps “the memories of the whole world,” and he says he is “so weighted with them.” Is being the one who keeps them a job worth wanting?
What it asks This is the last question the student meets, and it gathers the earlier ones. The man's job has “enormous honor.” The Attendant stands when the new Receiver walks in. His room has curved table legs, an embroidered cloth and walls of books, and he can turn the speaker off. He calls going over the memories “how wisdom comes. And how we shape our future.” But he says, “This job has aged me.” He is tired, his energy is going, he once failed, and it is “forbidden to talk of it.” He goes over the memories “all alone,” and he says, “I am so weighted with them.” Jonas feels “a terrible concern for the man.” The student decides whether this is a job worth wanting, and defends it. The chapter does not say why the community gave its memories to one person, and it ends before Jonas receives a memory, so no answer may say what that feels like.
No. The job wears the man down. He looks older than he is, he is tired, and he carries it alone in a room where it cannot be talked about. Even he compares it to pushing hard through deep snow.
This job has aged me.
And here in this room, all alone, I re-experience them again and again.
Yes. Only the keeper knows there is more than “only us” and “only now.” The job brings wisdom and helps shape the future. It also brings things no one else has, like the books and the switch.
My job is important and has enormous honor.
It is how wisdom comes. And how we shape our future.
A strong answer A strong response takes a position and tests it. A student might argue it is not worth wanting: the man says, “This job has aged me,” and he lives with the memories “all alone,” “again and again,” until he is “so weighted with them.” Another might argue it is worth wanting: the job “has enormous honor,” it is “how wisdom comes. And how we shape our future,” and only its keeper knows there is more than “only us” and “only now.” A careful answer may notice that the man himself seems to hold both: he was “frightened” when he was chosen and is worn out now, yet he was “pleased” when Jonas was selected.