Chapter 18 · The Giver

Copywork

I couldn't bring myself to inflict physical pain on her. But I gave her anguish of many kinds. Poverty, and hunger, and terror.

But the times of laughter were gone by then. She stood up very silently, frowning, as if she were making a decision. Then she came over to me and put her arms around me. She kissed my cheek.

On her last afternoon, Rosemary hugs The Giver and kisses his cheek without a word. What might that kiss be telling him?

For the educator Two passages, both in The Giver's own voice as he tells Jonas about Rosemary; copy them as shown, without quotation marks. They come close together in the chapter, and the first leads into her last afternoon. The first passage is three pieces. The first sentence holds the vocabulary word “inflict” and the phrase “bring myself to,” which means making yourself do something you can hardly bear to do. The second opens with “But” and holds the vocabulary word “anguish”; “of many kinds” tells us there was more than one. The third is not a full sentence. It names three of those kinds, “Poverty, and hunger, and terror,” with a comma and “and” before each new word, so the list comes slowly, one weight at a time. The second passage is her last afternoon, in four sentences. Its first sentence opens with “But” too, and looks back at her happy weeks: “the times of laughter were gone by then.” The second sets one word, “frowning,” between two commas and ends with an “as if” part; after “as if” the writer uses “were,” not “was.” The third joins two actions with “and.” The fourth is four words long. Have the student notice how the passage slows and stops. The talk prompt asks what the kiss might be telling The Giver. One student may hear goodbye, since she goes from this room straight to the Chief Elder. Another may hear thanks, or that she is not angry with him for the anguish he had to give her. Any reading can stand if the student points to the passage. Keep the talk on the kiss; why she chose release is never said, and whether her choice was weak or brave belongs to the last written question.

Discussion

Narration Tell back the chapter in order. Start when Jonas asks The Giver if he ever thinks about release. Stop where The Giver laughs a little, with troubled eyes.

When Jonas says, “It was in my rules,” The Giver laughs harshly. What is he laughing at? Inference
The Giver says, “I loved her.” Then he adds, “I feel it for you, too.” Why might he tell Jonas this in the middle of Rosemary's story? Character
On her first day, Rosemary's eyes were “very luminous.” Once she knew about pain, what do you think The Giver saw in them? Inference
Jonas is sure he “would never have done it.” His reason is that he had been chosen. But Rosemary had been chosen too. Is he right to be so sure? Character
The Giver tells Jonas to stay away from the river. At the very end of the chapter, he says it again. What has changed for The Giver by then? Author's choice

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time you know about, when people stopped saying someone's name. Why might they do that? Does it help them forget?

Vocabulary

dejected: "Me," Jonas said in a dejected voice. Sad and low in spirits.
serene: Very self-possessed and serene. Calm and peaceful inside.
luminous: Her eyes were very luminous, I remember. Bright, as if lit from inside.
ruefully: The Giver chuckled ruefully. In a sorry, regretful way.
inflict: I couldn't bring myself to inflict physical pain on her. To cause something painful to happen to someone.
anguish: But I gave her anguish of many kinds. Very great pain of the mind or heart.
successor: The Giver needed a successor, and he had been chosen. The person who takes over a job after someone else.
devastated: I was so devastated by my own grief at her loss, and my own feeling of failure, that I didn't even try to help them through it. Crushed by shock and sorrow.

Critical thinking

After Rosemary was gone, The Giver was so full of grief that he did not even try to help the people. Whose failure was “the failure”?
Jonas asks if Rosemary “wasn’t brave enough,” and The Giver does not answer. Was her choice to ask for release a weak one or a brave one?