In Jonas's first session, the Giver alludes to the pain to come when Jonas questions his belief that memories will be painful:
The man sighed. "I started you with memories of pleasure. My previous failure gave me the wisdom to do that." He took a few deep breaths. "Jonas, he said, "it will be painful. But it need not be painful yet."
Later in his training, Jonas enters the Annex room one day to find the Giver in a great deal of pain; on these days, Jonas is typically sent away without any training. However, on this day, the Giver begs him, "Please, take some of the pain."
He proceeds to transmit the memory of a young boy dying in war:
The boy stared at him. "Water," he begged again. When he spoke, a new spurt of blood drenched the coarse cloth across his chest and sleeve.
One of Jonas's arms was immobilized with pain, and he could see through his own torn sleeve something that looked like ragged flesh and splintery bone.
The memory is a horrid one. It presents the realities of war, of death, and of immense pain. Jonas notes that he would welcome death himself just before he escapes from the memory.
Therefore, the Giver apologizes to Jonas for a couple of reasons. First, he is sorry that Jonas has to bear the pain at all. He is sorry that he, the Giver, has to inflict tremendous pain on Jonas so that the rest of society can be spared from it. And second, the Giver feels guilty for asking Jonas to take this memory on this day so that he can get some relief. His relief is Jonas's torment, and any adult would feel remorse in asking a child to bear that burden.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Why does the Giver apologize to Jonas after sharing the memory of war?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What is the theme of the chapter Lead?
Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...
-
The statement "Development policy needs to be about poor people, not just poor countries," carries a lot of baggage. Let's dis...
-
"Mistaken Identity" is an amusing anecdote recounted by the famous author Mark Twain about an experience he once had while traveli...
-
Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...
-
De Gouges's Declaration of the Rights of Woman was enormously influential. We can see its influences on early English feminist Mary Woll...
-
As if Hamlet were not obsessed enough with death, his uncovering of the skull of Yorick, the court jester from his youth, really sets him of...
-
In both "Volar" and "A Wall of Fire Rising," the characters are impacted by their environments, and this is indeed refle...
No comments:
Post a Comment