On this page you have the reading of the book; you can read along from this full book text here. If you want to watch the movie in a new window you can click on this link and read the transcription of the movie here below:

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PROTECTED BY THE BOUNDARY. ALL MEMORIES OF THE PAST WERE ERASED.

After The Ruin, we started over. Creating a new society. One of true equality. Rules were the building blocks of that equality. We learned them as new children. Rules like:

• Use precise language,
• Wear your assigned clothing,
• Take your morning medication [Injected],
• Obey the curfew,
• Never lie.

"THE GIVER"

My name is Jonas. I don't have a last name; none of us did. That day, the day before graduation, I admit it, I was scared. Tomorrow we'd be assigned our jobs. Our purpose. Everyone seemed to know theirs already. Not me. I was lost. I always felt that I saw things… differently. I saw things other people didn't.

I never said anything. I didn't want to be different. Who would?

• Jonas!
• I apologize; we're late. I got Asher to come say goodbye to the teacher.
• I accept your apology.

Asher and Fiona, we've been friends our whole lives. Asher was the boy who made everyone laugh. Fiona… well, she was the girl who made everybody smile. Whoever is listening, please, please! Do not make me vice chief of voice management(?). Please.

We lived in a world where differences weren't allowed. There was no "Popular," no "Fame," no "Losers" and no "Winners." Our elders had eliminated all of that, so there would be no conflict between us. Fear, pain, envy, hate… They weren't words, so much as sounds. Their echoes were gone to the other side of history. I wonder if I should apologize for what I did. I'll let you decide.

---

I'm going to miss volunteering here.

• Oh no! If ever there is a person boring enough to work in the Nurturing Center, I could be it. Surprise me, right? Jonas, if you had to guess, of all positions the Elders picked for me…Nurturing Center. Welcome to the Nurturing Center.

• I got this. I got this. Think Heaven.

• Come on. Come on. Think Heaven.

• We win! Or you might be the champion!

• Which one is the heavier?

• Mine.

• Asher!

• Father, I think Fiona put her finger on the scale!

• I did not!

• Oh, this little guy didn't qualify for tomorrow's ceremony. He's just not strong enough to be assigned to a family yet.

• He looks so unhappy… It's okay, Jonas, you can open it.

• Oh. Hey! It's Jonas. Here, let me. There you go, there you go… It's okay.

• Some people have it.

• That is just not fair! Be strong, Gabriel!

• You looked at his name? Isn't that against the rules?

• Yeah, i-it is… I just thought having a name would help him grow. I whispered it so no one could hear. Sometimes I call him "Gabe." He's usually anxious, so I thought that if he heard…

• Are you okay?

• Huh? Yeah, I'm fine.

So the old man turns to the Elder and says, "Do you know who I am?" And the Elder says, "Sir, I know you're old, but that's not an excuse for being prideful." Then the old man says, "No, really, I'm asking: who am I?" I don't get it… "Who am I." Like he forgot who he was.

Okay, but wouldn't the joke be better if the old man says…

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One, two… three!

• Aren't we graduates now?

• You do this every time, come on! One, two, three…! There you go…

• So… I guess this is it. Last night of our childhood.

• I guess everything is gonna be different.

• No, tomorrow, the only thing that changes is what we do. It doesn't change who we are.

• Good question. Who are we?

• Friends. Friends forever.

• Yes. Even if you're both destined to be birth mothers.

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Citizens are reminded that the evening recreation will end in __ minutes. Thank you.

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Jonas, your turn for feelings.

• Well, I guess some sort of… terrified.

• Precision of language.

• I mean anxious. When you were about to graduate, did you ever feel… that there was no position meant for you?

• They've been watching since you were a new child. The Elders are never wrong. You will find your place.

---

Welcome, citizens, to the annual ceremony of advancement. Please, standby for a transmission.

• Good morning, Community.

• Good morning, Chief Elder.

• I apologize for my remote attendance.

• We accept your apology.

• I can't be at every ceremony in person, but here's a secret—you are my favorite community. However, because we do not lie, I readily admit I say that to every community.

Beginnings… From disorder and chaos, from great suffering, great pain… from confusion, envy, and hatred… came a solution: communities. Beautiful places, where disorder became harmony. Thank you.

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It begins: The Ceremony.

• Ceremony of the release to Elsewhere, honoring elderly citizens who have devoted their work to the beauty and harmony of our beloved community. Now ready for a joyful retirement to elsewhere.

• Celebrating the new Children, proudly and renewed by our esteemed geneticists… Abigail! Produced by our honored birth mothers. Now these babies will join their assigned family units, reaching their halfway mark towards graduation. Our Nines today receive the symbol of their developing independence and responsibility.

• Celebrating the Graduates, who today will be assigned positions in our community.

• Good luck!

• You too!

All of your training has been… to help you fit in. To curb any impulse that may set you apart from others, but today we honor your differences, for they have determined your future. Here are the leaders and teachers and workers and birth mothers of tomorrow. And I think we're in very good hands.

---

Number one, Madeline. Birth Mother.

• Thank you for your childhood.

Number two, Ross. Instructor of the middles.

• Thank you for your childhood.

---

Number 3, Asher.

• Unruly, careless, sometimes those most in need of responsibility learn best by being practitioners of it. Drone Pilot.

• Thank you for your childhood.

• You can keep it! Thank you!

---

Number 4, Ianda. Recreation Leader.

• Thank you for your childhood.

Number 5, Cathy. (They skipped Jonas.)

• Thank you for your childhood.

---

Number 6, Lloyd, geneticist.

• Thank you for your childhood.

Number 7, Iarra, administrative…

Number 8, Quinn, caretaker of the old.

Number 9, Fiona. From the beginning, it was clear, Fiona flourished working with new children. Fiona, Nurturer.

• Thank you for your childhood.

---

Number 10, Lucia. Instructor of the Twelve.

Number 11, Jack. Department of Justice Assistant.

Number 12, Chang - nutrition technician.

• Thank you for your childhood.

Number 13, Pierre. Grounds Keeper.

• Thank you for your childhood.

---

Chief Elder: You feel I made a mistake. I apologize to my community.

• Community: We accept your apology.

Chief Elder: Number 52, please step forward.

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Jonas has not been assigned a position. Jonas has been selected.

• We are not hasty this time, and we could not afford another failure.

• Jonas possesses all four attributes: intelligence, integrity, courage, and one I cannot name but… cannot describe—the capacity to see beyond.

• But I must warn you, your training involves pain. Pain far beyond anything we've known. Are you strong enough? Do we think Jonas is brave enough?

---

Jonas, you have been selected as our next Receiver of Memories.

• Thank you for your childhood.

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(Later…)

Jonas: Help me up, please.

• Okay. This leg, yup. That one. You got it.

• Sit back, sit back…

Asher: Is Jonas now more powerful than you?

Fiona: What did the Chief Elder mean when she said, "We cannot afford another failure"?

Jonas' Father: Well, ten years ago, the Receiver…

Mother: We cannot speak of it.

Jonas' Father: You've been greatly honored.

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(Training Instructions)

• Five Rules. One: Report directly to the Receiver of Memory for your training. After training, return immediately to your dwelling.

• Two: From this moment, you are exempt from all rules governing rudeness. You may ask any questions.

• Three: Beside from your daily injection, you may not receive other medicines. Especially those for pain.

• Four: You may not discuss your training with anyone. Ever.

Asher: You look so important…

Jonas: I don’t know…?

Asher: Stick out?

Jonas: Oh, yeah, there is only one Receiver of Memory.

Asher: Two.

Jonas: What did they say again? "You have the capacity to see beyond"?

Asher: Yeah… Can't wait to hear every single detail!

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(Rule Five)

• You may lie.

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(Jonas and Asher)

Jonas: Asher and I, we used to dare each other to get close to this place. It was built right on the edge. We all heard of people getting lost to the edge. Never to be seen again. And yet… here I was. Being told that I have to get close to it every day. For the rest of my life.

---

The Giver’s House

Jonas: Uh, hi. I’m Jonas.

• Please gaze at the sensor. Welcome, Receiver of Memories.

The Giver: They’re called Books. Your books.

Jonas: My name is…

The Giver: I know who you are. Of course, I apologize.

The Giver: "I apologize"…? Don’t say that. "I apologize"… don’t apologize to me. Never again, not here. We haven’t time to "apologize". That’s an automatic pleasantry. It does not mean anything.

---

The Giver: We are here for only one purpose. Simply stated… although it isn’t really simple at all. I’ll transmit to you all the memories that I hold within me. Memories of the past.

Jonas: I’d be very interested to learn about your life.

The Giver: No, no. Not… not my life. You’ll learn the secret history of the world! Before me, before you, generations back and back and back. When things were different—when there was more.

Jonas: "More"?

The Giver: Get… Chair. You see, no one in our community has any memory of the past. Only me. When the Elders need guidance that is beyond their experience, I provide wisdom. That is now your role. To provide guidance in the present, using the memories of the past.

---

The Giver: Move closer. There is no way for me to prepare you for what I'm going to do now. It's going to take comfort in knowing… You’re completely helpless.

---

(Experiencing Snow)

Jonas: That was… It was…

The Giver: How did that happen?

Jonas: What do you mean "how"? It happened.

The Giver: But it's impossible!

Jonas: And yet, it happened.

The Giver: But… why?

Jonas: Why don’t we have… that… thing…?

The Giver: Come on… the memories gave you the word. It’s not a "thing"…

Jonas: "Sledge"!

The Giver: Sledge. And the…

Jonas: Snow.

The Giver: Snow…

Jonas: Did my parents have them… did you…?

The Giver: No… no… It’s a very distant memory. Simply stated… there is no snow because of climate control.

---

(They Discuss Sameness)

Jonas: Why don’t people know about them? What’s so dangerous in the memory of a sledge?

The Giver: What’s so dangerous…? For sledge, you need snow. Snow is cold; cold destroys crops… which meant farmers couldn’t farm. Unpredictable weather, hills, mountains… made it difficult to transport food. And we had hunger, starvation, famine… Everything is connected; everything is in balance. Where there is good, there is always bad.

Jonas: Show me more!

---

The Giver and Jonas continue exploring memories.

The Giver: Let’s go for a walk. A real one, with your legs.

Jonas: At the bottom of the hill… I saw something. Like a place.

The Giver: "Home."

Jonas: Home?

The Giver: Yes.

Jonas: "Home"? Like a dwelling?

The Giver: No… it’s different. A dwelling is not a "home." A "home" means more.

Jonas: Your instructions said I could lie. Do you lie?

The Giver: Ah, all the time! Mostly for personal amusement. But I won’t lie to you.

Jonas: How do I know that’s not a lie?

---

Jonas learns about a past Receiver.

Jonas: There was someone else before me. What happened to them?

Jonas: If I’m now the Receiver, what does that make you?

The Giver: Well, then that must make me… The Giver.

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(Jonas with Fiona)

Fiona: So how was it?

Jonas: It was good.

Fiona: What did you do?

Jonas: We just talked.

Fiona: What else?

Jonas: That’s it.

Fiona: You seem different.

Jonas: How do you mean?

Fiona: I’ll see him tomorrow.

(Pause)

Jonas’s Mother: He’s not usually like this. I’m surprised you’re not more worried about him.

Jonas’s Father: If he were my responsibility… I would be.

---

The Giver shows Jonas emotions.

The Giver: Music… well, music when I hit the right keys. Just like music, there’s something else you can’t see with your eyes. Something that lives deep inside you. Something… this morning injection takes away.

Jonas: I thought the injections are for our health.

The Giver: No… they remove something.

Jonas: What?

The Giver: Emotions!

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Jonas experiences love.

The Giver: Feelings are just fleeting on the surface. But emotions… they are very deep… primal… they linger. And Jonas… you might not understand where you are or what’s happening. But don’t think about what you are seeing. Listen! Listen to what’s calling from inside.

Jonas: What beautiful wedding! Why would anyone want to get rid of this?

The Giver: Good question…

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(Jonas and Fiona dancing)

Jonas: Take my hands! Ready? Are you ready for the fast part?

• (They spin and dance together.)

Asher: What are you doing with her?

Jonas: It’s called dancing.

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(Community Announcement)

Community Speaker: Citizens are reminded that it is impolite to touch community members outside your family unit. Thank you.

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The Giver explains "hearing beyond."

The Giver: We already covered "seeing beyond." There is also such a thing as "hearing beyond."

(He plays music on a piano.)

The Giver: Now don’t judge me… I’m not very good. Even though I had a very good teacher.

Jonas: Who?

The Giver: Rosemary. The previous Receiver. She’s the one they all talk about. She was in training only two short months.

---

Jonas learns of Rosemary’s release.

The Giver: Unlike you, she wanted to experience… well, everything! I only gave her pleasant, beautiful memories. She fought me…

Rosemary: Don’t protect me! Don’t show me a map and then not give me all the memories.

The Giver: I thought we were going to help… but we had to move slowly. I gave her loss… too soon.

---

(Jonas’s realization about “release”)

Jonas: I’d like to see this morning’s release.

• The Giver hesitates but shows him a memory.

(Jonas watches his father “release” an infant)

Jonas: That’s death.

The Giver: He doesn’t know what he’s doing.

Jonas: "Doesn’t know what he’s doing"? He killed him!

The Giver: But he doesn’t know what it means. Just like you didn’t, neither did Rosemary.

---

Jonas resolves to change things.

Jonas: The young and the old killed. Your friend, Fiona, she will soon be trained to release as well.

The Giver: That’s a lie. She would never do that.

Jonas: If Fiona understood…

The Giver: We are the only ones who understand it.

Jonas: Then it’s our fault. You and me and all the Receivers back and back and back. There has to be a way to show them. To give them the memories so they can understand.

The Giver: Yes… because if you can’t feel… what’s the point?

---

Jonas decides to leave the Community.

Jonas: The only way to help them, to keep them alive… was to get to the boundary. If it even existed.

The Giver: You’re the reason we have a chance, so… the plan will be for you to go and for me to stay.

---

The Giver reveals Rosemary was his daughter.

The Giver: And for my daughter. That’s what you would have wanted.

Jonas: Your daughter…?

The Giver: Rosemary.

---

Asher confronts Jonas.

Asher: It’s against the rules to leave the Community this late.

Jonas: Asher, there’s something I have to do; it’s right, but it’s sort of against the rules.

Asher: If it’s the right thing to do… how can it be against the rules?

---

Jonas decides to take Gabe and escape.

Jonas: Giver! Wake up.

The Giver: I have to be sleeping to wake up.

Jonas: Something can be done. Something can be done!

The Giver: What do you propose to do?

Jonas: All the memories back and back and back can be returned. I need to leave the Community, I need to find the boundary of memories.

The Giver: And then?

Jonas: And then cross it!

The Giver: Slowly… Gabe is in danger.

Jonas: I can’t wait anymore! Something must be done!

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The Giver gives Jonas strength.

The Giver: If you cross this boundary… and if the memories are set free, all of the pain that you felt—all the confusion, the chaos—would return!

Jonas: So you have to stay to help them?

The Giver: Yes. And for my daughter.

The Giver: Look… There it is. You have the courage… let me give you the strength.

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Jonas escapes with Gabe.

Community Speaker: Attention all community residents. The Receiver in training has been reported missing from his dwelling. Please be alert; you may be in danger. Group 1 will start from the edge. Then Group 2, from the center.

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(Asher finds Jonas in the wilderness.)

Asher: What are you doing…?

Jonas: Asher, please, let us go.

Asher: I can’t. I’m supposed to… to lose you.

Jonas: Asher… if you’re my friend… if you ever were my friend… can you please somehow trust me? Trust me now.

Asher: I do trust you, Jonas.

• (Asher lets Jonas go and reports back that Jonas is “lost.”)

---

Jonas nears the boundary of memories.

Jonas (thinking): Nothing the Giver had shown me had prepared me for the voices in my head, screaming at me to stop. But I knew that Fiona would be punished for helping me. Asher, for letting me go. The only way to help them, to keep them alive, was to get to the boundary… if it even existed.

(Jonas strengthens Gabe with memories of joy and love as they struggle through the wilderness.)

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Back in the Community, Fiona is about to be "released."

The Giver: I don’t believe Jonas is lost.

Chief Elder: But the Ceremony of Loss…

The Giver: I’m sure of it. I don’t expect you to understand, but you must know that Jonas has become dangerous. He must be stopped. He must not get beyond the Triangle of Rocks.

Chief Elder: What do you want me to do?

The Giver: Find him… and then… lose him.

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Jonas and Gabe reach the boundary.

Jonas (to Gabe): I love you, Gabriel…

(Jonas pushes forward, carrying Gabe up a snowy hill. As they cross the boundary, memories begin to flood back into the Community.)

The Giver (voiceover): From far behind me, from the place I had left… I thought I heard music too. Perhaps it was only an echo. But it was enough. It would lead us all home.

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Jonas and Gabe continue their journey into the unknown, carrying the hope that their actions will restore what the Community has lost.