Giver- 12-4-13

• Quote a passage & respond to it. How did it make you feel?

"His father turned and opened the cupboard.  He took out a syringe and a small bottle. Very carefully he inserted the needle  into the bottle and began to fill the syringe with a clear liquid.

    Jonas winced sympathetically. He had forgotten that newchildren had to get shots. He hated shots himself, though he knew they were necessary. 

    To his surprise, his father began very carefully to direct the needle into the top of the newchild's forehead, puncturing the place where the fragile skin pulsed. The newborn squirmed and wailed faintly.

"Why's he-" 

"Shhh," The Giver said sharply.

    His father was talking, and Jonas realized that he was hearing the answer to the question he had started to ask. Still in the special voice, his father was saying, "I know, I know. It hurts little guy. But I have to use a vein, and the veins in your arms are still too teeny-weeny."

    He pushed the plunger very slowly, injecting the liquid into the scalp vein until the syringe was empty. "All done. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Jonas heard his father say cheerfully. He turned aside and dropped the syringe into the waste receptacle.

   Now  he cleans him up and makes him comfy, Jonas said to himself, aware that The Giver didn't want to talk during the ceremony.

   As he continued to watch, the newchild, no longer crying, moved his arms and legs in a jerking motion. Then he went limp. He head fell to the side, eyes half open. Then he was still.

  With an odd shocked feeling, Jonas recognized the gestures and posture and expression. They were familiar.

   Jonas stared at the screen, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did. The little twin lay motionless. His father was putting things away. Folding the blanket. Closing the cupboard.

    Once again, as he had on the playing field, he felt the choking sensation. Once again he saw the face of the light-haired, bloodied soldier as the life left his eyes. The memory came back."

    I've got to admit, I was crying after this part. If it wasn't 10:30 at night when I should have been in bed over half an hour ago, I would have thrown it at a pillow and stormed around the house. But it was over my bedtime, so I just read on quietly crying into SnugglePup (My stuffed animal) kept reading, and hoped my Mom couldn't hear me over the sound of the television. Luckily, she never did, otherwise I wouldn't have finished it so soon. This scene does leave you wondering what they do with the bodies though. I would assume they burn them far away somewhere, after all, Jonas never comes across a body, so they don't just dump them outside the borders. I wonder who's job it is to do that. Perhaps the Nurturers and the caretakers of the Old deal with it as part of their assignment. Perhaps I'd find out if I read the other books. I'm not sure if I'd be able to deal with any more sad parts though.... I don't like sad books. If I know it will be sad, like The Fault in Our Stars, I refuse to read it. I'm good at being stubborn like that. Unless it's for school, then I don't really have much of a choice. Arguing with teachers just isn't a good idea.