Chapter 7

It's FINALLY time for the Ceremony of Twelve. Jonas and his friends line up in the order of the numbers they were given at birth, before they all had names. The numbers reflect the order in which the children are born; Jonas is number nineteen, which means he's on the older side of his group of children. The group will receive its assignments in this order, as well. Asher, we see, is number four. The Chief Elder, an aged woman notes in her speech that, until now, differences were a bad thing. But today, differences are called out and used to decide each individual's future. Then the assignments begin, Fish Hatchery Attendant, Birthmother, Instructor of Sixes, and then it's Asher's turn. The Chief Elder relates a story about Asher to the crowd, like when he was little and couldn't distinguish between the words smack and snack. Every time Asher wanted a snack he accidentally said smack, so his teacher would smack him on the leg. Then Chief Elder gives Asher his assignment as the Assistant Director of Recreation.
  The assignments continue and when the Chief Elder gets to Fiona, number eighteen and standing to Jonas's left, she assigns Caretaker of the Old, which everyone finds appropriate. When it is Jonas’s turn, the Chief Elder moves on to number twenty and skips Jonas. Everyone notices, and the crowd is all hushed, but the Chief Elder keeps going through the rest of the students’ assignment without noticing. Jonas wonders what he might have done wrong.