Rules & Rituals
This mandatory evening ritual requires every family unit member to share and analyze their emotional experiences of the day.
Telling of Feelings
This is the age at which children in the community receive their first bicycles as a physical "emblem" of moving out into the community
Nine
This is the community's term for the first physical desires and romantic dreams that accompany puberty, which must be reported for daily pill treatment
Stirrings
Jonas was shocked to discover that the Annex door possessed this physical security feature, which is completely absent from all other community dwellings
A lock
This was the very first physical sensation and setting transmitted to Jonas by the Giver
Snow
This is the maximum number of children legally permitted in a single approved family unit.
2
At this ceremony, females lose their childish braids and males receive short, ear-exposing haircuts
Ten
Jonas selected this precise word to describe his complex anxiety about the upcoming December Ceremony, rejecting the word "frightened"
Apprehensive
Unlike standard homes, which only contain a dictionary, a community volume, and the Book of Rules, the Annex walls are lined with thousands of these
Books
Jonas experienced this pleasant, all-over warmth from the sky, which had become obsolete in the community when they went to Sameness and Climate Control
Sunshine
This is the maximum number of children legally permitted in a single approved family unit
Nakedness
The community performs this slow, somber ritual to fade a child from collective consciousness after a rare accidental death
Ceremony of Loss
This is the Assignment given to strong but somewhat lazy girls to give birth three times before becoming Laborers for the rest of their lives
Birthmother
The Giver corrected Jonas by explaining that their esteemed position in the community brings great "honor," which is not the same as this
Power
This was the first painful memory Jonas received, which left his skin stinging and his elbow aching, though he still considered the experience "interesting"
Sunburn
The number of transgressions a citizen is allowed before being released.
Three
This is the specific ritual performed when a newchild is given to a family unit to take the place of one who was lost
Murmur-of-Replacement Ceremony
Newchildren who do not meet standard growth rates or fail to sleep soundly are labeled with this status and scheduled for release
Inadequate
To ensure complete privacy, the Giver performs this astonishing, near-sacrilegious action in front of Jonas during their first meeting
Turn the speaker off
This is the first actual color Jonas begins to "see beyond" in ordinary life, initially flashing on a thrown apple and Fiona's hair
Red
A word which Asher used incorrectly and was chastised for it.
Smack
This was Jonas's birth number, which determined his seating and order during the Ceremony of Twelve
Nineteen
This rare physical trait, which Jonas notes gives a person a look of "depth," is shared by only a few citizens, including Gabriel and a female Five
Pale eyes
This is the brief, terrifying final rule on the single page of instructions Jonas receives for his Assignment
"You may lie"
The object Jonas uses to slide down the hill in the snow.
Sled