Epilogue To The Giver
QQ空间 新浪微博 腾讯微博 人人网 开心网 QQ收藏 更多 2 The audience was clearly ill at ease. They applauded at the final Assignment; but the applause was piecemeal, no longer a crescendo of united enthusiasm. There were murmurs of confusion.
Jonas moved his hands together, clapping, but it was an automatic, meaningless gesture that he wasn't even aware of. His mind had shut out all of the earlier emotions: the anticipation, excitement, pride, and even the happy kinship with his friends. Now he felt only humiliation and terror.
The Chief Elder waited until the uneasy applause subsided. Then she spoke again.
"I know," she said in her vibrant, gracious voice, "that you are all concerned. That you feel I have made a mistake."
She smiled. The community, relieved …show more content…
"I have caused you anxiety," she said. "I apologize to my community." Her voice flowed over the assembled crowd.
"We accept your apology," they all uttered together.
"Jonas," she said, looking down at him, "I apologize to you in particular. I caused you anguish."
"I accept your apology," Jonas replied shakily.
"Please come to the stage now."
Earlier that day, dressing in his own dwelling, he had practiced the kind of jaunty, self-assured walk that he hoped he could make to the stage when his turn came. All of that was forgotten now. He simply willed himself to stand, to move his feet that felt weighted and clumsy, to go forward, up the steps and across the platform until he stood at her side.
Reassuringly she placed her arm across his tense shoulders.
"Jonas has not been assigned," she informed the crowd, and his heart sank.
Then she went on. "Jonas has been selected."
He blinked. What did that mean? He felt a collective, questioning stir from the audience. They, too, were puzzled.
In a firm, commanding voice she announced, "Jonas has been selected to be our next Receiver of Memory."
Then he heard the gasp — the sudden intake of breath, drawn sharply in astonishment, by each of the seated citizens. He saw their faces; the eyes widened in …show more content…
"Such a selection is very, very rare," the Chief Elder told the audience. "Our community has only one Receiver. It is he who trains his successor.
"We have had our current Receiver for a very long time," she went on. Jonas followed her eyes and saw that she was looking at one of the Elders. The Committee of Elders was sitting together in a group; and the Chief Elder's eyes were now on one who sat in the midst but seemed oddly separate from them. It was a man Jonas had never noticed before, a bearded man with pale eyes. He was watching Jonas intently.
"We failed in our last selection," the Chief Elder said solemnly. "It was ten years ago, when Jonas was just a toddler. I will not dwell on the experience because it causes us all terrible discomfort."
Jonas didn't know what she was referring to, but he could sense the discomfort of the audience. They shifted uneasily in their seats.
"We have not been hasty this time," she continued. "We could not afford another
Jonas moved his hands together, clapping, but it was an automatic, meaningless gesture that he wasn't even aware of. His mind had shut out all of the earlier emotions: the anticipation, excitement, pride, and even the happy kinship with his friends. Now he felt only humiliation and terror.
The Chief Elder waited until the uneasy applause subsided. Then she spoke again.
"I know," she said in her vibrant, gracious voice, "that you are all concerned. That you feel I have made a mistake."
She smiled. The community, relieved …show more content…
"I have caused you anxiety," she said. "I apologize to my community." Her voice flowed over the assembled crowd.
"We accept your apology," they all uttered together.
"Jonas," she said, looking down at him, "I apologize to you in particular. I caused you anguish."
"I accept your apology," Jonas replied shakily.
"Please come to the stage now."
Earlier that day, dressing in his own dwelling, he had practiced the kind of jaunty, self-assured walk that he hoped he could make to the stage when his turn came. All of that was forgotten now. He simply willed himself to stand, to move his feet that felt weighted and clumsy, to go forward, up the steps and across the platform until he stood at her side.
Reassuringly she placed her arm across his tense shoulders.
"Jonas has not been assigned," she informed the crowd, and his heart sank.
Then she went on. "Jonas has been selected."
He blinked. What did that mean? He felt a collective, questioning stir from the audience. They, too, were puzzled.
In a firm, commanding voice she announced, "Jonas has been selected to be our next Receiver of Memory."
Then he heard the gasp — the sudden intake of breath, drawn sharply in astonishment, by each of the seated citizens. He saw their faces; the eyes widened in …show more content…
"Such a selection is very, very rare," the Chief Elder told the audience. "Our community has only one Receiver. It is he who trains his successor.
"We have had our current Receiver for a very long time," she went on. Jonas followed her eyes and saw that she was looking at one of the Elders. The Committee of Elders was sitting together in a group; and the Chief Elder's eyes were now on one who sat in the midst but seemed oddly separate from them. It was a man Jonas had never noticed before, a bearded man with pale eyes. He was watching Jonas intently.
"We failed in our last selection," the Chief Elder said solemnly. "It was ten years ago, when Jonas was just a toddler. I will not dwell on the experience because it causes us all terrible discomfort."
Jonas didn't know what she was referring to, but he could sense the discomfort of the audience. They shifted uneasily in their seats.
"We have not been hasty this time," she continued. "We could not afford another