jonas is a 16-year-old boy whose best friends are asher and fiona. on graduation day, jonas is told that he will become the next receiver of memory and will progressively receive memories from his predecessor, the giver. during his training with the giver, jonas gradually learns about the past and about joy, pain, death, and love. jonas stops taking his daily injections and begins to experience emotion. those who leave the community are said to have been "released to elsewhere", but jonas learns that this is really a euphemism for death by lethal injection. jonas also learns that the giver's daughter, rosemary, had preceded jonas as receiver of memory. when she began her training, however, rosemary became so distraught from the memories she received that she asked to be euthanized.