This document is Chapter 1 of The Giver by Lois Lowry, which introduces eleven-year-old Jonas living in a highly controlled, seemingly utopian Community where precision of language, strict rules, and conformity govern every aspect of daily life. The chapter opens with Jonas feeling “apprehensive” about the upcoming December Ceremony, where every child in the Community receives their life Assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve. Through a family dinner ritual called “the telling of feelings,” Jonas shares his anxiety with his parents and younger sister Lily, and the reader learns about the Community’s rigid structure — including assigned family units, regulated births, and the unsettling practice of “releasing” people who break rules or don’t conform. Small but telling details reveal a world without color, genuine emotion, or personal choice, where even children’s comfort objects are carefully managed, setting the stage for Jonas’s eventual awakening to the dark truths hidden beneath the Community’s orderly surface.
1
The Giver
Chapter 1
It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be
frightened. No. Wrong word, Jonas thought. Frightened meant that
deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen.
Frightened was the way he had felt a year ago when an unidentified
aircraft had overflown the community twice. He had seen it both
times. Squinting toward the sky, he had seen the sleek jet, almost a
blur at its high speed, go past, and a second later heard the blast of
sound that followed. Then one more time, a moment later, from the
opposite direction, the same plane.
At first, he had been only fascinated. He had never seen aircraft so
close, for it was against the rules for Pilots to fly over the
community. Occasionally, when supplies were delivered by cargo
planes to the landing field across the river, the children rode their
bicycles to the riverbank and watched, intrigued, the unloading and
then the takeoff directed to the west, always away from the
community.
But the aircraft a year ago had been different. It was not a squat,
fat-bellied cargo plane but a needle-nosed single-pilot jet. Jonas,
looking around anxiously, had seen others--adults as well as
children--stop what they were doing and wait, confused, for an
explanation of the frightening event.
Then all of the citizens had been ordered to go into the nearest
building and stay there. IMMEDIATELY, the rasping voice through
the speakers had said. LEAVE YOUR BICYCLES WHERE THEY
ARE.
Instantly, obediently, Jonas had dropped his bike on its side on the
path behind his family's dwelling. He had run indoors and stayed
there, alone. His parents were both at work, and his little sister, Lily,
was at the Childcare Center where she spent her after-school
hours.
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Looking through the front window, he had seen no people: none of
the busy afternoon crew of Street Cleaners, Landscape Workers,
and Food Delivery people who usually populated the community at
that time of day. He saw only the abandoned bikes here and there
on their sides; an upturned wheel on one was still revolving slowly.
He had been frightened then. The sense of his own community
silent, waiting, had made his stomach churn. He had trembled.
But it had been nothing. Within minutes the speakers had crackled
again, and the voice, reassuring now and less urgent, had
explained that a Pilot-in-Training had misread his navigational
instructions and made a wrong turn. Desperately the Pilot had been
trying to make his way back before his error was noticed.
NEEDLESS TO SAY, HE WILL BE RELEASED, the voice had said,
followed by silence. There was an ironic tone to that final message,
as if the Speaker found it amusing; and Jonas had smiled a little,
though he knew what a grim statement it had been. For a
contributing citizen to be released from the community was a final
decision, a terrible punishment, an overwhelming statement of
failure
Even the children were scolded if they used the term lightly at play,
jeering at a teammate who missed a catch or stumbled in a race.
Jonas had done it once, had shouted at his best friend, "That's it,
Asher! You're released!" when Asher's clumsy error had lost a
match for his team. He had been taken aside for a brief and serious
talk by the coach, had hung his head with guilt and embarrassment,
and apologized to Asher after the game.
Now, thinking about the feeling of fear as he pedaled home along
the river path, he remembered that moment of palpable, stomach-
sinking terror when the aircraft had streaked above. It was not what
he was feeling now with December approaching. He searched for
the right word to describe his own feeling.
Jonas was careful about language. Not like his friend, Asher, who
talked too fast and mixed things up, scrambling words and phrases
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until they were barely recognizable and often very funny.
Jonas grinned, remembering the morning that Asher had dashed
into the classroom, late as usual, arriving breathlessly in the middle
of the chanting of the morning anthem. When the class took their
seats at the conclusion of the patriotic hymn, Asher remained
standing to make his public apology as was required.
"I apologize for inconveniencing my learning community." Asher ran
through the standard apology phrase rapidly, still catching his
breath. The Instructor and class waited patiently for his explanation.
The students had all been grinning, because they had listened to
Asher's explanations so many times before.
"I left home at the correct time but when I was riding along near the
hatchery, the crew was separating some salmon. I guess I just got
distraught, watching them.
"I apologize to my classmates," Asher concluded. He smoothed his
rumpled tunic and sat down.
"We accept your apology, Asher." The class recited the standard
response in unison. Many of the students were biting their lips to
keep from laughing.
"I accept your apology, Asher," the Instructor said. He was smiling.
"And I thank you, because once again you have provided an
opportunity for a lesson in language. 'Distraught' is too strong an
adjective to describe salmon-viewing." He turned and wrote
"distraught" on the instructional board. Beside it he wrote
"distracted."
Jonas, nearing his home now, smiled at the recollection. Thinking,
still, as he wheeled his bike into its narrow port beside the door, he
realized that frightened was the wrong word to describe his
feelings, now that December was almost here. It was too strong an
adjective.
He had waited a long time for this special December. Now that it
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