Jonas begins to see more of what his civilization has sacrificed as he receives a memory of Christmas and how parents and children used to interact with one another. Jonas begins to realize that people were meant to understand and have love in their lives. He stops taking his pills.
Chapter 17
Jonas begins to have 'stirrings' as a result of not taking his pills. An imprmptu holiday is declared in the community, but he feels that he can't play with is friends anymore. They are playing a war game and as he now has knowledge of true war, he feels that it is a horrid thing to make a game of. Jonas finds about about the previous receiver and how she couldn't handle the memories, then applied for release. Jonas finds out that if the receiver dies, then all of the memories that are stored would be released into the community for people to begin feeling again.