Summary chapters 9-16

Chapter 9

Setting: In the community; the Auditorium; at Jonas' family home.

Time: Second day of the December Ceremony, in the evening.

Characters: Jonas, Asher, Jonas' peer group, community members, Jonas' parents, Lily

Summary: Jonas feels strange as he walks off the stage and the ceremony is over. He notices how people look at him respectfully. Asher also meets him with some restraint, but still congratulates him (14%). Jonas already feels different and separated from the others, including Asher (14%).

At dinner, Jonas's parents declare that they are very proud of him, that the Receiver of Memory fulfills the most important task of the community, and that being the Receiver of Memory is a great honor (29%). 

Jonas asks about the wrong decision in the last selection of a Receiver. His parents tell him that the last one chosen was a girl. However, her name may no longer be pronounced or given to a new child, so she probably made a serious mistake (43%).

Jonas then retires to his room. He looks at an information folder that all Twelves receive at the ceremony. It contains information about future training and the profession (57%). Unlike some of his friends' folders, Jonas' folder is very thin and contains only one sheet. These are the rules for his future behavior, which from now on apply only to him.

Every day, Jonas has to go to the Receiver of Memory for his training right after school and go home right after that. He no longer has to abide by the rule governing rudeness. He can ask anyone any question he wants and expect an answer. 

Jonas is not allowed to talk to anyone about the content of his training. From now on, he is forbidden to talk about his dreams during the morning ritual of Dream-telling (57%). He may continue to take only those medications for illnesses and injuries not caused by training. He is not allowed to apply for release as the Receiver of Memory, and he is allowed to lie (57%).

Jonas is stunned and initially worried that his training plan does not allow him any free time and that he is not allowed to spend time with his friends. In his mind, he goes through all the rules that are new to him and thinks about what they mean for him. 

Jonas is most concerned about the last rule, that he is allowed to lie. This new freedom shakes his view of the community. Always telling the truth is one of the community's top rules. Jonas wonders if the people around him are really all honest or if others like him are allowed to lie. Have his mother and father always told him the truth? (100%).

Chapter 10

Setting: In the community; in the home of the old Receiver of Memory (Annex room)

Time: After the December Ceremony, first day of training

Characters: Jonas, Fiona, a female Attendant, the old Receiver of Memory

Summary: Fiona and Jonas go to their training places together (0%). Jonas is let into the building by a woman who stands up to greet him and calls him Receiver of Memory, which makes Jonas uncomfortable. 

When the woman opens the room where he is supposed to wait, Jonas is surprised that the door was locked, because normally no doors are locked in the community (22%). However, the woman explains to him that the door is locked only because the Receiver needs his concentration in his work (22%).

When Jonas steps into the Receiver's room, he realizes that the furnishings are slightly different from the standard furnishings in the community and that there are an unusual number of books ...