As the weeks go by, Jonas learns all the colors, but still sees only glimpses of them in the world around him. Jonas is angry that the world is devoid of color, he doesn’t think it’s fair. The Giver asks him to explain. Jonas argues that without color, there aren't choices. He can't decide in the morning whether he wants to wear blue or red. He knows what color your shirt is isn't really important, but he thinks the ability to choose at all is what matters. Jonas elaborates by discussing Gabriel, whom The Giver already knows about. What if Gabriel could choose which color toy he wanted? The Giver explains that, if that were the case, then Gabriel might make the wrong choices. Jonas realizes the wisdom. He agrees that people shouldn't be allowed to choose their own spouses or jobs, because they might be wrong. "We really have to protect people," he says, "from wrong choices," because that way "it's safer." Still, though, Jonas doesn't quite feel satisfied with his own conclusion. He feels frustrated. Actually, he feels angry, all the time. He's angry at his friends, for example, for being satisfied with their lives, which are so dull and uninteresting.
He even tries to get Asher to see color one day, but that ends in a failure. One day The Giver transmits to Jonas the memory of poachers killing an elephant. The dead elephant's mate finds it after the poachers hack off their tusk which is rather sad. That night, Jonas tries to tell his sister that her comfort object is an elephant which used to really exist. She thinks he's just messing around. When he tries to transmit the memory to her it doesn't work. Jonas finally gets around to asking The Giver why he doesn't have a spouse and if he’s allowed to apply for one. The Giver answers that yes, he is allowed, but since he's old, his former spouse now lives with the Childless Adults. The Giver explains that Jonas can apply for a spouse some day if he wants to, but it will be difficult. Books, for example, would have to be hidden from his family. The Giver explains the approach of a solitary, secret life even in marriage. When he gets to the part about advising the Committee of Elders, Jonas gets nervous. After all, that's a big responsibility. But the Giver assures Jonas that they don't ask for help too often; in fact, he wishes they asked for help more often, there's so much he wishes he could change about the community, but the community aren’t interested.
The subject of the failure from ten years ago comes up, and Jonas asks what happened. The Giver explains that, when she (the last Receiver of Memory) failed, the memories didn't come back to him. Instead, they were released to the world; everyone had access to them, the way it used to be. This made it clear to everyone just how much they needed a Receiver, so that someone could suffer on behalf of everyone else. He goes on to explain that his life, his job, is simply to hold the memories. Jonas starts talking about his science instructors at school and the way they explain how the brain works, but The Giver interrupts him by asserting that that they know nothing. All the knowledge they have, he says, is meaningless without the memories. Sometimes, when Jonas shows up for his training, The Giver is rocking in pain and sends him away without training. When this happens, Jonas goes for long walks alone and tries to test his memory by looking for colors and trying to feel the sun. He walks all the way to the river and stands at the bridge that leads to other communities. He's crossed it a few times, on school trips, for example, but other than that, travel across it is forbidden. He wonders what everything looks like Elsewhere, beyond the neighboring communities and if they have hills and colors and sunshine. One day, Jonas asks The Giver what causes him so much pain. When the man doesn't answer, Jonas asks if perhaps it isn't about time for him to take some of the painful memories to carry himself and the Giver agrees.