Chapter 19 — Teaching Companion

What it asks It asks the student to judge Jonas at the start of the chapter, before he knows anything. He tells The Giver, lightly, that his father has to select one twin and release the other, and “They do it by weight.” The Giver's face turns “solemn,” and he says quietly, “I wish they wouldn't do that.” Jonas laughs: “Well, they can't have two identical people around! Think how confusing it would be!” He even wishes he could watch his father make the little twin “clean and comfy.” The student weighs how far the laugh is Jonas's fault. It takes up one part of the last written question: kind people in this chapter can speak lightly of release without seeing it. Do not let the talk turn Jonas into a villain either; he has never been allowed to see.

One reading

Hardly at all. Jonas has never been allowed to see a release, and he believes it is a gentle ceremony. He is laughing at what he has been told, not at a baby's death.

• They never let children watch. It's very private.
• He liked the thought of seeing his father perform the ceremony, and making the little twin clean and comfy.

Another reading

Some. The Giver's solemn face and quiet words are a warning, and Jonas laughs right past them. He has repeated the rule about weight without once asking what happens to the twin who is sent away.

• The Giver's face took on a solemn look.
• He has to select one and release the other one. They do it by weight.

Listen for

• Notices The Giver's solemn look and quiet words just before the laugh.
• Uses what Jonas believes release is: a private ceremony, the twin made “clean and comfy.”
• Weighs what Jonas could know against what he did not ask.
• Does not call Jonas cruel; he has not seen anything yet.

If stuck

• What does Jonas say his father has to do today?
• How does The Giver look and sound when he hears it?
• Can a person be to blame for laughing at something they do not understand?

A strong answer A strong response might say the laugh hardly counts against him: Jonas has never been allowed to watch, and Jonas pictures his father making the twin “clean and comfy.” Another might say it counts a little: The Giver's face “took on a solemn look,” and Jonas laughs past it without asking what happens to the smaller twin. A careful answer may notice that Jonas calls the twins “people” here, and keep that in mind for later in the chapter.

What it asks It asks the student to notice where the writer sets the release, and how much it looks like places Jonas already knows. Jonas expected a ceremony: “I thought maybe they'd have it in the Auditorium, so that everybody could come.” Instead the screen shows a small windowless room with a bed, a table, a cupboard and pale carpet. On the table is a scale, and “he had seen them before, when he'd been doing volunteer hours at the Nurturing Center.” He says it is “just an ordinary room.” The student decides what the familiar room does for the scene. It takes up one part of the last written question: the release is done with the everyday tools of care. Leave Father's voice to the last written question. Keep the talk on the room itself; do not claim that every release of the Old happens this way, since the chapter shows only this one and Rosemary's.

One reading

To catch Jonas, and the reader, off guard. Nothing in the room looks frightening, and the scale is one Jonas has seen before. So he keeps expecting a gentle ceremony, and what happens next lands harder.

• Suddenly he could see a small windowless room, empty except for a bed, a table with some equipment on it
• I thought maybe they'd have it in the Auditorium, so that everybody could come.

Another reading

To show that release belongs to the same work as caring for newchildren. The scale is the kind Jonas used at the Nurturing Center, and his father comes in dressed for his job. Care and release happen in the same kind of room, by the same hands.

• Jonas recognized a scale; he had seen them before, when he'd been doing volunteer hours at the Nurturing Center
• Jonas's father, wearing his nurturing uniform, entered the room, cradling a tiny newchild wrapped in a soft blanket in his arms.

Listen for

• Sets Jonas's guess (the Auditorium, everybody there) beside what the screen shows.
• Names familiar things in the room: the scale from the Nurturing Center, the bed, the blanket, the cupboard, the nurturing uniform.
• Gives a reason the familiar room matters to what happens next.
• Does not claim that every release happens in a room like this.

If stuck

• Where did Jonas think release might happen?
• What does Jonas see in the room, and where has he seen it before?
• What would you expect to happen in a room with a scale, a bed and a soft blanket?

A strong answer A strong response might say the familiar room keeps Jonas from expecting anything bad: he calls it “just an ordinary room” and waits for the ceremony. Another might say it ties release to the care of newchildren: the scale is like the ones at the Nurturing Center, and his father comes in “wearing his nurturing uniform.” A careful answer may notice that the words “He had seen them before” come back later in the chapter, when Jonas recognizes the twin's last posture from the dying soldier.

What it asks It asks the student to look closely at Father at the scale, before anything happens to the twin. He weighs the newborns gently, then laughs. “Good,” he says. “I thought for a moment that they might both be exactly the same. Then we'd have a problem.” One twin is six pounds even and goes off with the assistant to be cleaned, dressed and taken to the Center. The other is five pounds ten ounces. The student works out what “problem” Father is relieved to avoid. It takes up one part of the last written question: what this gentle man does and does not think about. Do not say that Father knows he is doing wrong or that he enjoys it; the chapter shows only his care, his cheerful words and his tidiness.

One reading

Having to choose. The weights choose for him, so he does not have to decide which baby stays. His laugh is relief that the rule did the hard part.

• I thought for a moment that they might both be exactly the same. Then we'd have a problem.
• He heard his father laugh.

Another reading

A snag in the morning's work. The weights make the job simple: one twin to the Center, one to stay with him. The problem is a work problem, and he never seems to think past it.

• So you can clean him up and dress him and take him over to the Center.
• His father tidied the room.

Listen for

• Uses the laugh and the word “Good.”
• Notices that the weight alone decides which twin goes to the Center.
• Says what the problem would have been, with a reason from the page.
• Does not claim Father knows he is doing wrong or enjoys it.

If stuck

• How much does each twin weigh?
• What happens to the bigger twin right after the weighing?
• Why might someone be glad when a rule makes a choice for them?

A strong answer A strong response might say Father is glad not to have to choose: the weights decide, and he laughs, “Good.” Another might say the problem is only a snag in the job, since he hands off the bigger twin to be cleaned and taken “over to the Center” and later “tidied the room.” A careful answer may notice that in both readings the weights, not Father, decide which twin stays.

What it asks It asks the student to stand inside Jonas at the moment his expectation and the screen begin to split. Jonas first says it aloud, sure of it: “Now he cleans him up and makes him comfy,” and, “He told me.” The Giver silences him in “a strange voice” and tells him to watch. Jonas winces at what he takes for a shot; he hates shots, “though he knew that they were necessary.” The needle goes in, and his father says cheerfully, “All done. That wasn't so bad, was it?” Then Jonas says the same words again, this time only to himself. The student decides why he holds on to them. This is the fault line under the last written question: the cheerful words keep Jonas from seeing what the screen shows. Stay with the gap between what Jonas expects and what he sees, not with the details of the needle.

One reading

He still does not understand. To him it looks like a shot, and his father's cheerful words sound like the end of an ordinary shot. He is still waiting for the ceremony.

• All done. That wasn't so bad, was it?
• He had forgotten that newchildren had to get shots.

Another reading

He is holding on to what his father told him. His father is “such a gentle man,” and saying the words again is a way to keep believing them a little longer.

• His father was such a gentle man.
• Now he cleans him up and makes him comfy, Jonas said to himself, aware that The Giver didn't want to talk during the little ceremony.

Listen for

• Finds both times Jonas says the line, and notices that the second time is silent.
• Uses Father's cheerful “All done. That wasn't so bad, was it?”
• Notices that Jonas understands only later, when he remembers the dying soldier.
• Does not dwell on the needle itself.

If stuck

• Who told Jonas what happens at a release?
• What does his father say right after the needle?
• Have you ever kept telling yourself something because you wanted it to be true?

A strong answer A strong response might say Jonas still does not understand: his father's “All done. That wasn't so bad, was it?” sounds like any shot, and Jonas thinks of the scene as “the little ceremony.” Another might say he is holding on to what he was told, because “His father was such a gentle man.” A careful answer may notice that the truth reaches Jonas only through a memory, the dying soldier's face, and not through anything his father says.

What it asks It asks the student to look hard at one small word. The twin goes limp, and Jonas recognizes the posture from the dying soldier in his memory. Then: “He killed it! My father killed it!” The chapter has been calling the baby “him,” “the little twin” and “little guy.” At the start, Jonas himself called the twins “people.” The student decides where the word “it” comes from at this moment. It takes up one part of the last written question: how the community's words shape what its people see. Keep the talk on the word, and do not dwell on the details of the death.

One reading

From the community. Jonas has learned to talk about newchildren as things to weigh, sort and send away. Even the story slips into “it” at the scale. In the shock, the old way of talking comes out.

• he handed one, after rewrapping it, to his assistant
• He has to select one and release the other one.

Another reading

From the shock. Jonas is stunned and cannot yet bear to say “him.” The soldier's face has just come back to him, and the word is the cry of someone who cannot take it in.

• He killed it! My father killed it! Jonas said to himself, stunned at what he was realizing.
• Once again he saw the face of the lighthaired, bloodied soldier as life left his eyes.

Listen for

• Finds the word “it” in Jonas's cry and the words the chapter uses elsewhere for the baby.
• Remembers that Jonas called the twins “people” at the start.
• Connects the word to the community's way of talking, or to Jonas's shock.

If stuck

• What does Jonas remember just before he understands?
• What words does the chapter use for the baby before this?
• Why might a person reach for the wrong word when they are badly shaken?

A strong answer A strong response might say the “it” comes from the community: Jonas has learned to speak of newchildren as things to weigh, and even the story says “after rewrapping it.” Another might say it comes from shock: he is “stunned at what he was realizing,” with the soldier's face before him. A careful answer may notice that the word sits beside “My father,” so the sentence holds both the community's habit and Jonas's horror.

What it asks It asks the student to listen to how The Giver ends the chapter. When the screen goes blank, he tells, calmly, how he was shown Rosemary's release: she was waiting, they brought the syringe, and she said she would prefer to inject herself. He says, “I don't know about bravery: what it is, what it means,” that he “sat here numb with horror. Wretched with helplessness,” and that he “looked away.” Then, “in a bitter voice”: “Well, there you are, Jonas. You were wondering about release.” The student decides who or what the bitterness is aimed at. It takes up one part of the last written question: the twin's release becomes the meaning of Rosemary's too. Do not say why The Giver insisted that Jonas watch; he said only “I think you should.” And do not claim that every release happens the same way.

One reading

At the community and what it does. It took Rosemary, and this morning it took the twin, and The Giver has had to watch it on a screen both times.

• When the Speaker notified me that Rosemary had applied for release, they turned on the tape to show me the process.
• Well, there you are, Jonas. You were wondering about release,

Another reading

At himself. He sat “numb with horror” and could do nothing. He listened as Rosemary asked to inject herself, and then he looked away. His bitterness is about his own helplessness.

• I do know that I sat here numb with horror. Wretched with helplessness.
• Then she did so. I didn't watch. I looked away.

Listen for

• Notices the change from his calm telling to “a bitter voice.”
• Uses what The Giver says he did when he watched Rosemary's tape.
• May notice that “You were wondering about release” answers Jonas's own questions, including whether Rosemary “wasn't brave enough.”
• Does not explain why The Giver wanted Jonas to watch.

If stuck

• What did The Giver see on Rosemary's tape?
• How does The Giver say he felt while he watched?
• Can a person be bitter at themselves and at others at the same time?

A strong answer A strong response might say the bitterness is aimed at the community: the same process that took Rosemary took the twin, and The Giver says, “You were wondering about release.” Another might say it is aimed at himself: he sat “numb with horror” and says, “I looked away.” A careful answer may notice that Jonas once suggested Rosemary “wasn't brave enough,” and that The Giver now answers, “I don't know about bravery.”

What it asks This is the last question the student meets, and it gathers the earlier ones: how much Jonas's own laugh about the twins counts against him, why the writer makes the room for release look so familiar, what problem Father is glad to avoid at the scale, why Jonas still tells himself “Now he cleans him up and makes him comfy,” where the word “it” in his cry comes from, and who The Giver's bitterness is aimed at. Now the student judges the gentleness itself. Jonas smiles at “the special voice he uses with Gabriel.” Father uses it to weigh the twin, to say “It hurts, little guy,” to say “All done. That wasn't so bad, was it?” and, after the carton goes down the chute, “Bye-bye, little guy.” The student decides whether that gentleness makes the act less terrible or more, and defends it in writing. Do not settle it for them. Do not let anyone claim that Father knows he does wrong or enjoys it, or turn him into a villain: the chapter's horror is that a gentle man does this kindly.

One reading

Less terrible. Father does not hurt the baby on purpose or speak to him coldly. He comforts him the whole time, the way a Nurturer should. Whatever is wrong here, his kindness is not the wrong part.

• He watched, fascinated, as his father gently lifted one and then the other to the scale and weighed them.
• I know, I know. It hurts, little guy.

Another reading

More terrible. It is the same voice he uses at home with Gabriel, and he uses it for every step, right up to the chute. The kindness never stops him or slows him, and it is what kept Jonas from seeing.

• That's the special voice he uses with Gabriel,
• "Bye-bye, little guy," Jonas heard his father say before he left the room.

Listen for

• Takes a side and gives a reason from the chapter.
• Uses one moment of Father's gentleness before the needle and one after it.
• Notices that this is the voice Father uses with Gabriel, and what that does to Jonas.
• Writes in complete sentences and answers the other side; does not call Father a villain or claim he knows he does wrong.

If stuck

• What does Father say to the twin while he weighs him?
• What does he say at the very end, as he leaves the room?
• Can kind words make a hard thing gentler, or can they hide how hard it is?

A strong answer A strong response takes a position and tests it. A student might argue the gentleness makes it less terrible: Father comforts the baby with “I know, I know. It hurts, little guy,” and never acts in anger. Another might argue it makes it more terrible: it is “the special voice he uses with Gabriel,” and he says “Bye-bye, little guy” after loading the carton into the chute, as if nothing much had happened. A careful answer may notice that Jonas did not see what was happening while the kind words went on; it took a memory of the dying soldier, and the student may ask what that says about kind words.