Jonas
Jonas is the main character and protagonist in The Giver. Jonas isn’t given much physical description, since the society in this book does not see colors, but he has light eyes unlike the rest of his family and most of the people in the Community. Jonas likes to question a lot of prospects in his life especially after being selected to be the Receiver. He has a generally good attitude towards his work and strives to be good enough for his Community to accept him. Before the Ceremony of Twelve, when Jonas can no longer do volunteering, he liked to work at the House of the Old. He enjoys being outside and playing games with his friend Asher and some other boys in his year. He likes talking to people and learning new information he before that did not know. In order to become the Receiver of Memory, Jonas needs to have four traits: intelligence, integrity, courage, and wisdom. Jonas does have all of these characteristics: he does well in school—intelligence; when Jonas does something wrong, he is always ready for chastisement—integrity; he has to be able to endure the physical pain of the memories he receives, and he can—courage; finally, he acquires wisdom through his training. Overall, Jonas is a very smart and serious but fun person.
The Giver
The Giver, formerly known as the Receiver, is a very serious man. He is said to look much older than he actually is, with “sagging flesh” (Lowry 76). He is wise from all of the memories he holds within his head. The Giver has been the Receiver for a very long time. His new successor is Jonas. The Giver changed his name from The Receiver to The Giver after Jonas was selected. He does not have a real name he was just called the Receiver. He had a daughter named Rosemary and he has a wife. He does not like how unknowing the people in his community are. He wants them to all share the painful memories he has to keep but he also knows that if this were to happen, the people would be in much pain. The Giver is very caring. He always makes sure Jonas is okay and wants the best for him. The Giver is also modest. He knows he is very respected yet he stays away from people and does not really accept all of the honor he is given. He is humble to the people of the Community when it comes to his power and memories because he knows that the people think that having the Memories is highly honored but to him they are painful. Giver helps out the Council of Elders when they are discussing something that requires him to look into the past. He uses the Memories to help make decisions that will best help the Community. The Giver is caring, modest, and helpful.
Asher
Asher is Jonas’ best friend in the book The Giver. He often speaks too fast for his mind to actually comprehend what he is saying and messes up words like when he says “I guess I just got distraught, watching them” (Lowry 4) instead of saying distracted he said distraught. Asher is very funny, outgoing, and active. He got the Assignment of Assistant Director of Recreation. When he was receiving his Assignment on stage, the Chief Elder talks about Asher’s silly mistakes that all of the Elders had laughed at when Asher was young. They said how he would not be able to teach Second Years because that is the year where talking correctly is taught, and well, Asher is still not very good at that. Asher is very happy with him Assignment. He and Jonas are close friends but after Jonas gets selected as the Receiver, Asher acts weird and differently around him than usual—but so does almost everyone else in Jonas’ life. Asher loves to play around outside and do various games with his friends. He enjoys riding his bike near the stream that runs through the Community. All in all, Asher is fun-loving, outgoing, and maybe a little childish.