~ Chapter 15 + 16 ~

In these chapters The Giver is in great pain. When Jonas says that he will come back another day, the Giver says,

' "Please," he gasped, "take some of the pain." '

Willing to help the Giver, Jonas takes off his tunic and lies on the bed ready to receive a memory, but he did not expect what was about to come. This memory was so painful, its no wonder the Giver wanted to get rid of it. When the memory was over Jonas did not want to go back. He did not want any of the memories, the honor, the wisdom, or the pain. But he had no choice. He must finish his training. This time when Jonas went to see the Giver he received a happy memory. Probably to make up for the memory from the previous day. This memory was full of warmth and happiness. The word that came to Jonas' mind was family. There were aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. In this world, there were no grandparents. As soon as your child gets a house or dwelling of there own, you would live with the childless adults. You would probably never see your children again let alone your grandchildren. So it was very new to Jonas.

Unlike The Giver, in Gathering Blue you would know your grandparents. Even though Kira never met her grandfather, if it was not for him, Kira would have been sent to the Field to die.

Imagine if you never knew your grandparents or if you could never see your children again after they had a family of there own. How would you feel?

When Jonas asked his parents if they loved him they replied,

' "Father? Mother?" Jonas asked tentatively after the evening meal. "I have a question I want to ask you."

"What is it, Jonas?" his father asked.

He made himself say the words, though he felt flushed with embarrassment. He had rehearsed them in his mind all the way home from the Annex.

"Do you love me?"

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Then his father gave a little chuckle. "Jonas. You, of all people. Precision of language, please!"

"What do you mean?" Jonas asked. Amusement was not at all what he had anticipated.

"Your father means that you used a very generalized word, so meaningless that it's become almost obsolete," his mother explained carefully.

Jonas stared at them. Meaningless? He had never felt something as meaningful as the memory.

" And of course our community can't function smoothly if people don't use precise language. You could ask, 'Do you enjoy me?' The answer is 'Yes,' " his mother said.

"Or," his father suggested, " 'Do you take pride in my accomplishments?' And the answer is wholeheartedly 'Yes.'

"Do you understand why it's inappropriate to use a word like 'love'?" Mother asked.

Jonas nodded. "Yes, thank you, I do," he replied slowly.

It was his first lie to his parents.

~ Chapter 14 ~

In this chapter,The Giver gives Jonas memories that are much more painful than his previous ones. This memory would and did actually hurt Jonas. It hurt so much Jonas begged for some pain relief but it was against the rules.

When Jonas got home he asked is Gabriel could sleep in his room for that night. For the first part of the night, he slept like the baby that he is, but his restlessness woke Jonas. In order to calm Gabe before he woke the rest of the family, Jonas rubs Gabe's back in a circular motion and pulled the memory of sailing forward. Gabe became calm. Jonas pulled his hand away. He had just given the slightest bit of that memory to Gabe. Now that memory in Jonas' mind was not as clear as it used to be.

~ Chapter 13 ~

In chapter thirteen, Jonas is upset at the fact that since there is no color in the world, then no one can make choices of there own. No one can choose whether they want to wear a blue shirt or a green one. Everything is the same. Even though what you wear is not important, choosing your job and your mate is. So basically you are being treated like a baby, who can not make decisions for themselves, but both Jonas and the Giver agree that it is much safer, because there is no chance to make the wrong decision.

In this chapter, the Giver gives Jonas a painful and sad memory of poachers.

'He could hear noises: the sharp crack of weapons - he perceived the word guns - and then shouts, and an immense crashing thud as something fell,tearing branches from the trees.

He heard voices calling to one another. Peering from the place where he stood hidden behind some shrubbery, he was reminded of what the Giver had told him, that there had been a time when flesh had different colors. Two of these men had dark brown skin; the others were light. Going closer, he watched them hack the tusks from a motionless elephant an the ground and haul them away, spattered with blood. He felt himself overwhelmed with a new perception of the color he knew as red.

The men were gone, speeding toward the horizon in a vehicle that spit pebbles from its whirling tires. One hit his forehead and stung him there. But the memory continued, though Jonas ached now for it to end.

Now he saw another elephant emerge from the place where it had stood hidden in the trees. Very slowly it walked to the mutilated body and looked down. With its sinuous trunk it stroked the huge corpse; then it reached up, broke some leafy branches with a snap, and draped them over the mass of torn thick flesh.

Finally it tilted its massive head, raised its trunk, and roared into the empty landscape. Jonas had never heard such a sound. It was a sound of rage and grief and it seemed never to end.'

In this chapter the Giver and Jonas talk about how everyone is giving Jonas the burden of holding the memories so they do not have to.

~ Chapter 12 ~

In this chapter Jonas is walking to his training session with the Giver again with Fiona, but something strange happened. Fiona's hair changed. It changed the same way that the apple had. Once again, no one else noticed the change. When Jonas arrived at his training session. He asked the Giver what had happened. The Giver replied,

' "Let me try one more thing. Look over there, to the book case. Do you see the very top row of books, the ones behind the table, on the top shelf?"

Jonas sought them with his eyes. He started at them, and they changed. But the change was fleeting. It slipped away the next instant.

"It happened," Jonas said. " It happens to the books, but it went away again."

"I'm right, then," The Giver said. "You're beginning to see the color red." '

As it turns out, the people in the world that Jonas lives in does not see any color. Just like new born babies, they can see only black and white. Now that Jonas is receiving memories from the past, back when people could see color, he is too seeing colors, but for the moment he can only see red.

~ Chapter 10 + 11 ~

In these chapters, Jonas goes to his first day of training, there he meets the Giver. Jonas' job is basically to hold all of the memories of the whole world. All the happy, sad, and painful. In chapter ten, Jonas and the Giver talk about why Jonas was there and what he was going to be receiving.

In chapter eleven, Jonas gets his first memory, a sled ride on a hill. Jonas thought this was amazing. he actually felt like he was there. He could see the snow falling and feel the cold, crisp air. He felt the wind on his face when he went down the hill. Now this was a happy memory, the Chief Elder said there was going to be pain too. The second memory that Jonas received was sunshine. The heat warmed his body to create a pleasant sensation. The last memory that Jonas received was painful. It was sunburn. Jonas said that it hurt a lot, but little did he know that there were more memories to come that would hurt more than pain in his wildest dreams.

~ Chapter 9 ~

In this chapter, Jonas reads what was in the folder that the Chief Elder had handed him. His folder was unusually thin compared to what his friends had. Inside was a sheet that had the rules for the assignment.

In Gathering Blue, Kira was given a job that no one else in the community can do, and along with Jonas from The Giver, she also had rules she had to fallow, but they were not as straightforward as his.

There were two things that really stood out in Jonas' mind. One was that one of the rules was that you were allowed to lie. Now in the community, it is against the rules to lie to one another. Was this a mistake? It would extremely awkward to lie to one of his friends and his family. The other rule was that you could be rude to a person. Now seriously, how weird would it be if you said something rude to one of your friends and they were expecting an apology, but you did not need to give them one?

What would you do if you were in Jonas' position?

~ Chapter 6, 7, 8 ~

In chapter six, Lois Lowry describes what each age group gains or losses when the time of the ceremonies arrive, for example, when the Eights (eight year old) become Nines (nine year old) they get a bicycle, with there own licence plate type thing on it. Now, the Ceremony of Twelve is where the Elevens whom are to become Twelves, get there assignment or Job in the community. Each person is called up to the stage where the Chief Elder gives them a folder with all the rules and expectations.

Just like in The Giver, there are different signs that show how old you are. In The Giver, it is what you are given. In Gathering Blue It is your name. However many syllables you have in your name determines how old you are, for example, Kira who is about fourteen has a two syllable name where as Annabella who is a very old person, probably in the seventies or older, has a four syllable name.

In chapter seven, it is time for the Elevens to be called to the stage. Jonas is so excited. He can not wait for his assignment. One by one each Eleven goes to the stage of the auditorium. Jonas is number nineteen. Fiona is in front of Jonas and a male named Pierre is behind him. Both Asher and Fiona received assignments that suet their personality, but when it was Jonas' turn, something went wrong.

'Eighteen, Fiona, on his left, was called. Jonas knew she must be nervous, but Fiona was a calm female. She had been sitting quietly, serenely,throughout the Ceremony.

Even the applause, though enthusiastic, seemed serene when Fiona was given the important assignment of Caretaker of the Old. It was perfect for such a sensitive, gentle girl, and her smile was satisfied and pleased when she took her seat behind him again.

Jonas prepared himself to walk to the stage when the applause ended and the Chief Elder picked up the next folder and looked at the group to call forward the next new twelve. He was calm now that his turn had come. He took a deep breath and smoothed his hair with his hand.

"Twenty," he heard her voice say clearly. "Pierre."

She skipped me, Jonas thought, stunned. Had he heard wrong? No. There was a sudden hush in the crowd,and he knew that the entire community had realized the the Chief Elder had moved from Eighteen to Twenty, leaving a gap. On his right, Pierre, with a startled look, rose from he seat and moved to the stage.'

JONAS HAD BEEN SKIPPED! Yet for what reason?

In chapter eight we find out what really happened. The reason why Jonas had been skipped. As it turns out, Jonas had been selected to become a very important and highly honored person in the community. The Receiver.