It's December, and Jonas is almost ready for the big ceremony. This ceremony is an honoring of age kind. Jonas is an Eleven, and this year he'll be a Twelve. They will assign him a job, and he'll be happy with it. At dinner one night Jonas, Lily, his 7 year old sister, Mother, and Father share their feelings, as everyone does every night in their Utopian community. Father shares that he broke the rules and peeked at the list of the ritual of Naming. A little one Father has been nurturing for a while, is named Gabriel. Jonas shares that he is apprehensive about the ceremony of Twelve’s. The next day, Jonas recalls a memory when he was playing catch with an apple. He remembers the apple "changing".
At the ceremony, Jonas watches and the little one, Gabriel, is not called. Therefore, Father will watch him for another year, so he can monitor weight and sleep patterns.
When the ceremony of Twelve’s comes, Jonas is shocked that his number had been skipped. He realized in the end that he was skipped due to a great honor. He was selected not assigned the job of Receiver. Jonas will spend all his hours with the Giver. The Giver is the man who holds all the memories of the past. Good and bad ones. It’s Jonas’ painful duty to take all these memories, and hold them himself. He will feel pain, loss, happiness, sorrow, everything the Giver has been protecting the community from.
Jonas accepts the offer. He is the new Receiver. The next day, he is given a list of rules for his assignment. He notices how everyone else’s folders are thick compared to his. He opens the folder only to find a single piece of paper. That paper was a list of rules. He is allowed no more recreation time, he is exempt from all areas of rudeness, he is not allowed to share his dreams, he is not allowed to apply for release, and he is allowed to lie. Lying is forbidden in the Utopian community.
The next day, Jonas rides his bike to the Giver’s office. He notices the doors are locked, something that isn’t allowed in the community either. The attendant assures him it’s for privacy. Jonas and the Giver begin talking. Jonas realized how old, sad, and worn the Giver is. Then the Giver gives Jonas his first memory. He has Jonas lay down on a couch and he places his hands into his back. The memory is of snow, on a hill. Jonas is riding a sled. None of these things he has ever seen before. After that memory was transferred, the Giver admits to Jonas that a small burden has been lifted off of him. The next memory is of sunshine. Then Jonas brings up how he heard that the job would be painful. His last memory is of sunburn. Jonas doesn’t like that.
More and more days pass where Jonas and the Giver transfer memories. The Giver feels better though on some days Jonas is sent home because the Giver is in too much pain. Jonas learns that the time with the apple is when he started to see color. He also receives memories of war, and death, painful experiences that leave Jonas feeling guilt, and sorrow. The Utopian community doesn’t see in color. Gabriel also hasn’t been sleeping well at night and Father is considering telling the council about it. That will end in a release. Jonas offers to put Gabriel in his room, so without telling anyone, when Gabriel wakes, Jonas gives him a memory. Calm memories like the rolling waves or the gentle breeze.
Jonas is growing impatient living in this life now. He learns that there is going to be a release of a set of twins. One twin will be released the other will stay. Jonas has never seen a release so the Giver decides to show him a tape of Father releasing the little one. He learns that Father has been “killing” not releasing in this process. He uses a lethal injection and it kills the person. Jonas becomes very upset at this fact, and calls Father a killer.
That night, Jonas stays with the Giver instead of returning home. All through the night, they plot for Jonas to flee the community. This way, all the memories the Giver has transferred will be opened to the community and they will have to deal with them. All the plans were set, until Jonas learns that Gabriel is set to be released because he can’t meet the health requirements for the community. Jonas decides to take Gabriel with him on his journey.
They flee together on Jonas’ bicycle. They hide from the search planes and battle the cold snow. They are out of food and about to die, when Jonas comes upon a hill, covered in snow, with a sled waiting at the top. Just like the memory. At the bottom of the hill there is a house, with dancing lights and laughter from people inside. Jonas says he hears talking, but he claims it to be the echoes of the wind.
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