Chapters 13-15.

Chapter – 13.

As days, months pass by, Jonas begins to see colors. Giver tells him that it will take him long to keep the colors for long, but Jonas wants to choose and decide for himself.

Jonas feels it will be nice if Gabriel can choose the toys by their colors for himself. He feels sorry for his groupmates, who are satisfied with their lives and there is not much Jonas can do for them.

One day he has a disturbing experience. Under the touch of the Giver’s hand, he finds himself in an alien, wind-swept land, with a clear blue sky overhead. He can, from behind the bushes, hear the poachers killing an elephant and the huge animal falling down with a loud thud. He finds them hack the tusks from the dead body. When they are gone, its mate comes out into the open from behind the bushes and lets out a heart-wrenching cry.

That evening on his return home, when father is busy combing Lily’s hair, he tries to transmit the memory of the giant animal to them, by placing his hands on their shoulders, without any success.

Time and again by talking to the Giver, he comes to know about the role of the giver in their community. A new receiver will always have some net set of rules. The Receiver leads a lonely life and counsels the Committee of Elders as and when required. Due to the failure of the last receiver, who took away with her the memories, which were released to someplace easily accessible to the community people, there was absolute mayhem in their society. The Committee realized the importance of letting the Receiver keep the painful memories.

Somedays when the receiver is in pain due to the weight of the memories, he will ask Jonas to go away. Jonas then will take a walk by the riverside, trying to test the power of the memories by himself. He will stand at the one end of the bridge and wonder what lies at the other end, beyond the land of the communities over there. Does it lead to Elsewhere, where he had seen the dead elephant? Finally, when he keeps on asking the Giver for the painful memories, the giver gives him one.

Chapter – 14.

Jonas gets transported to a steeper hill with a light snow falling. He is delighted to find himself on a sled, going downhill. But then he loses control to the speed and steepness as the sled turns sideways, starts spinning and hits a bump.

Jonas is thrown off, in mid air before falling down with a twisted leg under him. He hears the next moment a bone cracking as if a wild fire is licking at the torn flesh and bone. Great fear overtakes him as he lies stupefied with excruciating pain. He starts throwing up with blood dripping from his face. Then he is back in the annex.

Back home, he refuses his father's offer of medication (against the rule for the giver), nor does he discuss anything related to his training ( against the rule again). He goes up to his room early and feels sorry for his family as they have no idea of pain. In his dream, he relives the anguished memory.

From then on, Jonas starts receiving painful memories of the past. But each painful memory is followed by a pleasurable one: a sail on a green, blue lake; the orange sun going sown behind the mountains and so on. After receiving the Memory of Hunger and Starvation one day, Jonas cannot help asking the giver what wisdom they could possibly derive from this memory. The Giver, in reply, talks about the time before his birth, when the Community members wanted Birthmothers to be assigned four births so some family units could have the pleasure of an extra child. This was mainly to solve the problem of the labour shortage. The Giver advised them against the idea based on the Memory of Starvation. As population increased many moons ago. so did hunger resulting in warfare at the end!

Jonas finds the idea of keeping the painful memories by the giver and the Receiver revolting and wants to change the existing rules. Unfortunately, both of them realize that it is almost impossible.

Gabriel in the meantime is growing up. Even then Jonas’ father is not sure if he is to be released or not. Mother thinks it will be a good idea as without him she can sleep peacefully. Anyways, Jonas’ father informs them that he is busy with the possibility of the release of the weaker of the twins. Hearing him talking about release, Jonas starts thinking of Elsewhere and wonders if Larissa, who has been released recently, will be there at the other end of the bridge, to welcome the weaker twin. The thought of Larissa makes Jonas protective of Gab and he seeks permission from his parents to let him keep watch over Gab in his room for the night. This will also let his parents sleep well.

That night Jonas keeps awake In his room as he keeps an eye on Gab. Gab sleeps peacefully and so does Jonas finally. He is awakened by the restlessness of the child. He goes upto the crib and puts his hand on the child’s back. He starts patting the whimpering baby rhythmically, calling up the memory of the wonderful boat-ride in the lake in the process.

Suddenly the realization of unknowingly transmitting most of the memory to Gab dawns on him. He tries to retain whatever little of the memory he is left with, before retiring to bed.

Just before dawn, as the child starts whining again, Jonas purposefully transfers the rest of the boat-ride memory to him. He knows that he can always receive the memory of the boat-ride in a lake, on an ocean from the Giver. He wonders if he should inform the giver. He decides against it as he is neither a qualified giver, nor is Gab a selected receiver!

Chapter – 15.

Next day, on entering the Giver’s room, Jonas finds him rocking on the chair, his face covered with both hands, in utter pain. Concerned, Jonas asks him if he can help in any way. The Giver requests him to take some of his painful memories away. Lying on the bed, Jonas is let in a far-flung, foul-smelling land with the atmosphere thick and heavy with yellow, brown smoke. He finds a badly injured horse die in front of his own eyes and hears someone lying nearby whisper pitiably for water. Inspite of his unbearable pain, he laboriously moves his hand to his side to get the metal container in order to pour water in the parched mouth of the dying lad, no older than himself!

Some water goes down the soldier’s  mouth, some down his grimy chin. He coughs up blood and drenches his apron. Then he is gone. With heaps of dead, injured, mutilated bodies of humans and animals lying all around, accompanied with the nauseating stench, Jonas decides to face Death with open eyes. He finds himself in the annex with the Giver sitting close by. The giver apologizes to Jonas for the painful memory. 

To be continued ........