Freedom and Choice

“Gabriel’s breathing was even and deep. Jonas liked having him there, though he felt guilty about the secret. Each night he gave memories to Gabriel: memories of boat rides and picnics in the sun; memories of soft rainfall against windowpanes; memories of dancing bare-footed on a damp lawn.

"Gabe?"

The new child stirred slightly in his sleep, Jonas looked over at him.

"There could be love" Jonas whispered.

The next morning, for the first time, Jonas did not take his pill. Something within him, something that had grown there through the memories, told him to throw the pill away"

This passage shows that Jonas truly believes in freedom and..... love. He wants everything to go back to the way it was. The way it was before sameness. Jonas wants to share color, emotion and deep feelings with the community. Especially with Asher, Lily, Fiona, and his parents so they can feel the joy and to an extent feel the pain of what the world used to be like. But is that for the best? It could be like the world we live in today. To them the past, history, almost never to be remembered. But if everyone knew what a broken leg was and animals, and, color it could be much more alike yet different at the same time.

We all know that Jonas wants things to go back before sameness ever happened, but, would it really be a good choice to go back before sameness? Maybe freedom isn't such a good thing after all; Jonas' community is completely stable and ‘perfect’. It would turn the community's world upside down if they what had existed many centuries before them. And if all of a sudden their world just changed everyone would freak out and pandemonium would break out. The quote “Theirs is not to reason why, theirs is but to do and die." relates to the community of the Giver because in the community they live and do their job with no real emotion then when they are old the are released. Freedom and emotion are exactly he things that the elders centuries before had wanted to get rid of. If the world went back to normal, yes, it would be full of color and emotion, but people would realize the real truth behind everything. Release means death, and dying would once again be could be a normal part of life for people, and so would pain and sadness. So I think that Jonas should look at this situation from a member of the community perspective.

The answer might not make sense but the book doesn't make sense too.