The giver is written from the point of view of Jonas, an eleven-
year-old boy living in a futuristic society that has eliminated
all pain, fear, war, and hatred. There is no prejudice, since
everyone looks and acts basically the same, and there is very
little competition. Everyone is unfailingly polite. The society
has also eliminated choice: at age twelve every member of the
community is assigned a job based on his or her abilities and
interests. Citizens can apply for and be assigned compatible
spouses, and each couple is assigned exactly two children each.
The children are born to Birthmothers, who never see them, and
spend their first year in a Nurturing Center with other babies,
or “newchildren,” born that year. When their children are grown,
family units dissolve and adults live together with Childless
Adults until they are too old to function in the society. Then
they spend their last years being cared for in the House of the
Old until they are finally “released” from the society. In the
community, rele