The Giver

Chief Elder:
When people have the freedom to choose, they choose wrong. Every single time.

Jonas:
Your instructions said I can lie. Do you lie?

The Giver:
All the time. Mostly for personal amusement.

The Giver:
Her name was Rosemary. She was my daughter. I loved her.

Chief Elder:
Precision of language.

The Giver:
Haha! Could not be more precise.

Jonas:
Fiona, there is more. So much more. [kisses her]

Chief Elder's Assistant:
What are they doing?

Jonas:
Fiona, what do you feel?

Fiona:
I don't have the words to describe it.

Jonas:
If you can't feel... what's the point?

The Giver:
But what can you do?

Jonas:
It was like a memory, but Fiona was there.

The Giver:
You had a dream.

Jonas:
A what?

The Giver:
A dream. A combination of reality, fantasy, emotions and what you had for dinner. You have stopped taking your injections, haven't you?

Jonas:
The emotion was so strong. And the wedding, everyone all together, laughing and dancing. The old with the young, the bride and the groom; there was something there. But different from what we have.

The Giver:
Yes. We don't have that any more.

Jonas:
What do you mean by "that"?

The Giver:
Well. I'm talking about what you feel for someone else. And the mind can't explain it, and you can't make it go away.

Jonas:
What is it?

The Giver:
Love. It's called love.

[first lines]

Title Card:
All memories of the past were erased.

Jonas:
After The Ruin we started over, creating a new society, one of true equality. Rules were the building blocks of that equality. We learned them as Newchildren. Rules like: use precise language, wear your assigned clothing, take your morning medication, obey the curfew, never lie.

Jonas:
My name is Jonas. I don't have a last name. None of us did. That day, the day before graduation, I admit it, I was scared. Tomorrow we'd be assigned our jobs, our purpose. It seemed everyone knew theirs already. Not me. I was lost. I always felt like I saw things - differently; saw things other people didn't. I never said anything. I didn't want to be different. Who would?

Asher:
[bicycle bell dinging] Jonas!

Fiona:
I apologize, we're late. I got Asher to come say goodbye to Teacher.

Jonas:
I accept your apology.

Jonas:
[narration continues] Asher and Fiona. We'd been friends our whole lives. Asher was the boy who made everyone laugh. Fiona, well, she was the girl who made everyone smile.

Asher:
[standing on his bicycle pedals]... Take that back! Whoever is listening, please, please, do not make me Vice Chancellor of Waste Management! Please!

Jonas:
[narration continues] We lived in a world where differences weren't allowed. There was no "popular." No fame. No losers and no winners. Our Elders had eliminated all of that, so there'd be no conflict between us. Fear, pain, envy, hate, they weren't words so much as sounds. Their echoes were gone, to the other side of history. I'm asked if I should apologize for what I did. I'll let you decide.

Chief Elder:
[beginning her commencement speech] Beginnings... From disorder and chaos, from great suffering, great pain. From confusion and envy and hatred came a solution: Communities. Serene, beautiful place where disorder became harmony.

Chief Elder:
Number 51, Asher. Unruly, careless. Sometimes those most in need of responsibility learn best by being the practitioners of it. Drone Pilot. Thank you for your childhood. You can keep it!

The Giver:
You see, no one in our Community has any memory of the past. Only me. When the Elders need guidance on matters that are beyond their experience, I provide wisdom. That is now your role. To provide guidance in the present using memories of the past.

The Giver:
[grabbing hold of him] There is no way for me to prepare you for what I'm going to do now. You can take comfort in knowing you are completely helpless. [sighs] If any of this proves too much for you, tell me immediately.

Jonas:
I just have... [passes into a trance]

The Giver:
Everything is connected, everything is a balance. With good there is always bad. The two...

Jonas:
Show me more!

The Giver:
Let's go for a walk.

Jonas:
[scoots his chair forward for another vision]

The Giver:
A really one, with your legs.

Jonas:
I had learned that knowing what something is, is not the same as knowing how something feels.

The Giver:
Memories are not just about the past. They determine our future. You can change things. You can make things better.

Jonas:
Asher, there's something I have to do that is right, but is sort of against the rules.

Asher:
If it's the right thing to do, how can it be against the rules?

Jonas:
There are things that I've learned that you don't know, that you can't know, not because it's your fault...

The Giver:
You have the courage, let me give you the strength.

[last lines]

Jonas:
I wish I had been there when the memories returned. They were the truth. The Elders and their rules were the lie. So I do *not* apologize. I knew Fiona was safe. That I'd see her again, and that I held the future there in my arms. [distant singing]

Jonas:
The Giver had led us here, to this house. It was real. From far behind me, from the place I had left, I thought I heard music, too. Perhaps it was only an echo. But it was enough. It would lead us all home.