The Giver by Lois Lowry

            In Lois Lowry's The Giver, Jonas-the protagonist- is born into a community of uniformity. In this community, people don't discuss differences, talk about others or touch others. A daily pill is taken to take away pain; and at the age of twelve people are assigned a life-long role. On the podcast Memory and Forgetting, a pill was developed by NYU scientists, to get rid of bad memories. .
             Jonas was an intelligent boy who always follows the rules in his community, but even though he is obedient, Jonas thinks it is entertaining that his sister thinks that the rules are pointless and does everything in a mediocre manner. When Jonas turned twelve, he is chosen to be the receiver of memories in his community, since he had proved to everyone in his community that he is obedient. In this society, there is the Receiver, and the Giver. The Giver was an old man who uses his wisdom to help the Community of Elders make better choices. The Giver believes that everyone in the community should be able to keep their memories. Without them, the difference between right and wrong becomes blurred. As the people in the community, take the pills, emotions and memories are stripped. When Jonas was chosen to be the new receiver, the Giver was obligated to transfer to him all of his memories. After becoming the Receiver, Jonas is told to not take his pills, now that he has to hold the memories and emotions, he was also given the privilege of lying. Jonas began to find himself being treated differently by his friends and family; he became angry that his assignment was the reason behind it. When Jonas met with the Giver for the first time, he was shown color. Jonas becomes confused and does not understand why memories, color and happiness are limited to only the Giver and Receiver. The second time Jonas met with the Giver, a painful memory was transferred to him. Jonas was tempted to rid himself of the feeling by taking a pill.