Lois Lowry

There are so many good memories, The Giver reminded Jonas.

Things could change, Gabe," Jonas went on. "Things could be different. I don't know how, but there must be some way for things to be different.

Jonas felt a ripping sensation inside.

But now Jonas had experienced real sadness. He had felt grief. He knew that there was no quick comfort for emotions like those.

Overwhelmed by pain, he lay there in the fearsome stench for hours, listened to the men and animals die, and learned what warfare meant.

The agony of the fractured leg began to seem no more than a mild discomfort as The Giver led Jonas firmly, little by little, in the deep and terrible suffering of the past.

The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.

The Old were always given the highest respect.

But at the same time he was filled with fear. He did not know what his selection meant. He did not know what he was to become. Or what would become of him.

His feelings were too complicated this evening. He wanted to shared them, but wasn’t eager to begin the process of sifting through his own complicated emotions, even with the help that he knew his parents could give.

If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!

Jonas tried to be brave. He remembered that the Chief Elder had said he was brave.