In Lois Lowry’s dystopian novel The Giver, Jonas is the protagonist who receives the community’s memories.
At the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas is selected to become the Receiver of Memory, an exceptional role in his apparently orderly community. The current Receiver, known thereafter as the Giver, transmits memories of the past, including color, music, love, pain, war, and family life.
Jonas’s training reveals that the community eliminated intense choices and suffering by imposing sameness. It also hides morally troubling practices behind calm official language, including the community’s use of “release.” His growing knowledge leads him to question whether safety without freedom is worth the cost.
The Giver was published in 1993 and won the 1994 Newbery Medal. Asher and Fiona are Jonas’s friends, while Gabriel is the infant Jonas tries to protect; none of them holds the Receiver role.