The Giver Characters & Symbols

Jonas' Father

A Nurturer who cares for infants and helps the infants for the ceremony of "Names."

Names (as a symbol)

A lot of times, the author's choice in selecting these can hold symbolic meaning to different people, places or thing from other stories, meaning they are ALLUSIONS! For example, the name "Jonas" comes from a character in the Old Testament in the Bible where he is swallowed by a leviathan (a whale) because he keeps running away from the truth. He is spit out after three days and three nights and goes on to tell the truth. Jonas's sister's name is "Lily," which is an especially beautiful and sensitive flower, very similar to the character in the story. "Rosemary" is a fragrant herb that is associated with memory according to Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Roberto

Early in the novel, he is released from the House of the Old. At the Ceremony in December, his name is then given to a Newchild.

Dreams (as a symbol)

For Jonas, he doesn't dream much, so when he does start dreaming, it is very important and is the beginning of his growing up process. It is a time when young people get ideas that may not go along with the Sameness of the community, so they are given medicine to calm these Stirrings down.

Caleb

He drowned in the river by accident. The Community preformed a ceremony of loss and then did not speak his name. Several years later, his family was assigned a new replacement child with the same name.

The Giver

He is known to be the Receiver and mentor for Jonas. He appears to be much older than is really is because he is weakened by the burden of memories over time. He has pale eyes like Jonas and Gabriel. He treasures the memory of music.

Asher

Jonas' best friend. He is also known to being late at his volunteer sessions. His Assignment is the Assistant Director of Recreation.

Speaker

Makes daily announcements to the community. These could be about rules and regulations that may have been broken.

Fiona

She is one of Jonas' friends and Jonas likes her. Her Assignment is Caretake of the Old.

Lily

She is seven years old and is known as Jonas' sister. She talks a lot.

The Chief Elder

She is the one charge of the community overall and is their leader. As the antagonist in the story, she works against Jonas, making things harder for him. She believes that when citizens are given the power to choose, they will always make the wrong choice. Her character is static and does not change throughout the story.

Rosemary

She was the last receiver who failed. She asked to be released due to the painful memories. She is also known as the Giver's daughter.

The Apple (as a symbol)

The color red symbolizes, love, anger, and can also symbolize life. It is linked to real emotion because it is a real color. When Jonas sees the color red for the first time, this is the first time he realizes he is different. It shows he is different from the community. As Receiver of Memory, he will begin to learn about emotions. The apple is his window into the world of human experience and emotion. This makes him unique, because no one else in the community feels things—except The Giver.

Precision of Language

The community places a very high value on using the correct word when speaking. Jonas spends the entire first chapter figuring out that he feels apprehensive and not afraid. Asher stops speaking for awhile when he's a toddler because he kept confusing the word "smack" with "snack."

Committee of Elders

The group of Elders who makes all the decisions for the community after consulting The Receiver.

Gabriel

The infant that Jonas' father carries for that is part if his assignment. Also known as, "Gabe." He stays with Jonas' family temporarily because he isn't growing fast enough. He'll stay with Jonas until a decision is made on his future.

Jonas

The protagonist in the novel He is selected to become the "Receiver-of-Memory." He shows intelligence, courage, wisdom, and integrity, which are the requirements of his Assignment. He starts out as an eleven year old boy who soon questions the community and is different from the community. He changes throughout the story, making him a dynamic character.

Hair Ribbons (as a symbol)

These serve as a reminder of the way in which the idea of sameness promoted. All females under nine must have their hair in ribbons and tied neatly. Lily does not like the ribbons that keep her hair back; they always seem to come untied by the end of the day, and she even gets in trouble for having them that way. Having your hair down is a visual reminder of the individuality and strength of the human spirit, a spirit that is tied back and put away in this colorless community.

The Capacity to See Beyond

The ability to see what sameness takes away Jonas and The Receiver both have this ability and recognize its importance. Chief Elder finds it to be dangerous.

The River (as a symbol)

This forms a border of the community before continuing on to Elsewhere. As a border, the river comes to symbolize escape—crossing the river means leaving the community. Because it takes the life of the four-year-old Caleb, it also symbolizes the danger inherent in that escape.

Bicycles (as a symbol)

This the main form of transportation, but they also are significant reminders of the growing up process in children. We assess our own growth process is how soon we can crawl, walk, and then ride. It is the same in Jonas's community where "at Nine....[it represents movings] away from the protective family unit" (p. 41). It represents independence and the ability to move forward—as we also see in the ending of the book when Jonas uses his father's bicycle to rescue Gabriel by fleeing to Elsewhere.

Hippo

This used to be Lily's comfort object. It really is an elephant, not a hippo, but no one but Jonas and the Giver know this. It becomes Gabe's comfort object.

Mirrors (as a symbol)

We know these are hard to find in the story and they aren't used to look at the character's physical behavior. Instead, they are used to see if what we see is good and our actions are right—they give us a way to make accurate judgments against the image we see. In this community everyone is the same, and the sameness tends to blur the idea of right and wrong that a mirror put up to the community would reveal.

Larissa

When Jonas works on volunteer hours with Fiona, he helps bathe her in the House of Old. After this day, Jonas goes home and has his first Stirrings dream about Fiona.

Jonas' Mother

Works at the Department of Justice, who carries an important position in the community and helps the Chief Elder.