In Lois Lowry's The Giver, Jonas is chosen to become the next Receiver of Memory.
Jonas is a 12-year-old boy living in a community organized around strict rules, assigned occupations, and a policy called Sameness. At the Ceremony of Twelve, children normally receive their lifelong work assignments. The Chief Elder skips Jonas during the announcements, then explains that he has been selected for the rare and highly honored position of Receiver of Memory.
The Receiver holds memories from before Sameness, including experiences of snow, color, love, hunger, war, and pain. The community has removed these memories from ordinary citizens to preserve stability and eliminate suffering, but the Receiver retains them so the Elders can seek advice when facing difficult decisions. Jonas receives the memories from his predecessor, whom he calls the Giver.
Gabriel, Fiona, and Asher are important characters but are not the protagonist chosen for this role. Gabriel is an infant Jonas grows close to, Fiona is his friend, and Asher later receives a different community assignment.
Published in 1993, The Giver gradually reveals that Jonas's apparently peaceful society depends on secrecy, emotional control, and the euphemism of “release.”