Characters:

Jonas: Jonas is a very dynamic character. He changed a lot from the first chapter to the last chapter. He begins as a person who follows the rules constantly and always watches his language. As he got his job with the giver he started to become a completely different person. This all begins on chapter 11 when Jonas realizes he can lie. Lying is a big no-no in this community that they live in. People always tell the truth to people and let people know what was happening with them. Jonas’ job as the receiver of memory allows him to lie in order to keep his job secret to the rest of the community. Jonas is a round character but not fully. He is explained as a person more than anyone else in the book but is not a fully developed character. His physical appearance and that of many characters is not explained thoroughly.

Fiona: Fiona is not a major character in the book, but is definitely needed in order to make the book work. Jonas gets attached to Fiona, even though citizens are supposed to take a pill that stops them from feeling love. At the beginning of the book, Fiona, Jonas, and Asher go to the house of the old to care for the elderly. Whenever Fiona got free time, she would go to the house of the old for volunteer hours. She was given the job “caretaker of the old” at the ceremony of twelves. We dont get to know much more about Fiona after that, but she does help Jonas to escape the village with Gabe. (The child Jonas’ father was looking after)

Asher: For me, Asher is the most unknown, main character in the book. He is not given much detail at all in the book. He is said to be Jonas’ best friend and the adventurer of the group of Jonas, Fiona, and himself. Asher is fairly dynamic. Throughout the book his behavior changes. He starts out hating the rules of his community and constantly going against them, but when he gets his job, he starts to follow the rules and act “how a citizen should”. Asher “turns” on Jonas and starts to try get Jonas to turn sides and follow the rules, and the friendship between the two goes away.

The Giver: Originally called “the receiver of memory”, we are introduced to the Giver at the end of chapter 11. All though we don’t get to see the giver for the entire book, his personality is fully revealed. He is the only character the has his appearance described as well. Said to be an old man with short hair, grey hair. The Giver job is to hold memories of what life was like before this community came to be, so they do not get released to the rest of the community. Jonas becomes the receiver of memory, and gets the memories passed down to him by the giver. What beats the giver up inside is the previous receiver of memory before Jonas. Her name was Rosemary. Rosemary was given the memory of war and pain and suffering, and asked to be released. As you know from my previous post, a release is when someone who is not needed for the village is killed and sent off. The twist is, Rosemary was the Giver’s daughter.