In the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, the reader is introduced to what appears to be overall a perfect, if somewhat unusual and disconcerting, community. As the story progresses, the reader learns things that seem disturbing even though this utopian society is supposedly “perfect.” As Jonas begins his work as the new memory receiver, he gains wisdom, and through this wisdom he learns that in shielding the community from memories, their lives are lacking in feeling and understanding. First and foremost in The Giver, we learn from mistakes and without the memory of those mistakes, we cannot actively make decisions about the future. “Yesterday's mistakes may be today's regrets, but they are tomorrow's lessons” (twoxchromosomes.wordpress.com) People learn from memories and gain wisdom by remembering past experiences. Although the elders have succeeded in creating a utopian society where the pain resulting from memories of the past does not exist, the community needs someone to bear the weight of those memories. As the Receiver of Memory, The Giver uses the knowledge of memories that he alone retains, to advise the committee of elders on problems they have never faced before. For example, when they want to change the rules, adding a third child to each family unit, and also the time of the rough plan. Because the characters in the book have no memory, they cannot learn from past mistakes and cannot actively decide anything. Furthermore, in The Giver memories are a source of wisdom, but also of pain. The Giver is prohibited from sharing the pain he or she acquires through memories with anyone else, including his or her spouse and children. The weight is very difficult to bear. Jonas sees how burdened the Giver is by some memories and is...... middle of paper ......under the strain of loss and grief, of the loss of his daughter, he has been unable to help his community in dealing with all the memories. However, during the time Jonas was training with him, they both come to the conclusion that the disadvantages outweighed the advantages of their elders' choice to opt for equality. The day Jonas discovers what liberation is, he refuses to return home. The Giver reminds him that things were different once, a long, long time ago. The Giver himself had been hopeless about the possibility of change, yet being with Jonas for nearly a year had led him to make the decision that things had to change somehow. And Jonas, several hours earlier, had inadvertently shown him how to do it. The point is that the Giver states several times that there is still hope for change in the community, and in the end Jonas' escape was a symbol of hope, just like Noah's dove..