Chapter 21 Chapter 19 Liberating the Truth

Jonas glanced at the clock to see that most of the time had passed.There are always so many things to do, and he and the Instructor seldom chat simply like they did just now. "I'm sorry I wasted my time with so many questions," Jonas said. "I'm asking about the liberation because my dad is releasing a newborn today. There are twins born today and he has to Make a choice, free one of them, and keep the heavier baby." Jonas glanced at the clock again, "He should have finished, that was this morning." The imparter looked very solemn: "I hope they don't do this." He was almost talking to himself.

"Because there can't be two identical people in the community! Otherwise, the world will be in chaos!" Jonas chuckled softly. "Wish I could watch from the sidelines," he added.He wanted to see how Daddy performed the liberation ceremony, how he cleaned and took care of everything for the lighter newborn.Dad is a caring person. "You can watch," said the Giver. "No," Jonas told him. "Children can't watch it. It's done in secret." "Jonas," the Giver told him, "haven't you read the training rules carefully? Don't forget, you can ask any question you want."

Jonas nodded, "I remember, but..." "Jonas, when we've worked together for a while, you're the new memory giver. You can read, you'll get all the memories, you'll take everything. It's part of the training, if you want to watch the liberation ceremony, Just ask for it." Jonas shrugged. "Okay! But it's too late this time. I'm sure the ceremony took place in the morning." The Giver told him something he didn't know yet: "All ceremonies performed in secret are videotaped and stored in the Secret Archives. Would you like to see the liberation ceremony this morning?"

Jonas hesitated, worried that his father would be unhappy if he found out, because it was a secret ceremony. "I think you should watch it." The Giver told him firmly. "Well, please tell me how," Jonas said. The Giver stands up from the chair, walks to the intercom on the wall, "click" One sound, flip the switch to the on position. A voice came over the intercom immediately: "Hello, memory teacher, what are your instructions?" "I want to see the twins' liberation ceremony this morning." "Please wait, Memory Giver. Thank you for your instruction."

Jonas looked at the screen above the switch, and the otherwise blank screen began to flicker with jagged lines, then some numbers, then the date and time.He was both shocked and happy, he didn't expect it to be so convenient to use, and he didn't even know it before. Suddenly, a small windowless room appeared on the screen, with a faded carpet on the floor, containing only a bed, a table, and a cupboard with some kind of instrument on it - Jonas recognized It was a scale: he had seen it when he volunteered at a baby care center. "It's just a normal room," he said. "I thought it was going to be held in the auditorium, so that everyone could attend, like all the old people go to the liberation ceremony. Could it be because he was just born, no ..."

"Hush!" said the Giver, looking at the screen. On screen, Jonas' dad, dressed in a foster uniform, enters the room with a newborn wrapped in a soft blanket in his arms.Another girl, not in uniform, followed, wrapping another newborn in the same blanket. "That's my dad." Jonas lowered his voice naturally, as if he was afraid of waking the little guy up. "The other one is his assistant. He is still training, but he will finish training soon." Two breeders unfold the blanket and place the identical twins on the bed. They are completely naked, and they are boys at a glance.

He watched intently as Pa gently lifted one of them, weighed it on the scale, and lifted the other. He heard his father laughing, "Very well," said his father to his assistant, "I thought they were all the same weight, and that would be a big problem. But this one," he rewrapped one of them and handed it to the assistant, "Exactly six pounds. You clean him, dress him, and take him to the nursery." The assistant walked out the door holding the newborn. Jonas saw Dad bend over to the newborn squirming on the bed and say, "As for you, little one, you're only five pounds ten ounces, and a small shrimp."

"He always talks to Gabor in that tone," said Jonas, smiling. "Concentrate on it," said the Giver. "Now wash the baby and make him comfortable," said Jonas. "Daddy told me." "Quiet, Jonas." The Giver ordered in a strange voice, "Watch out." Jonas fell silent, focusing on the screen.He was curious about the ritual itself. Dad turned and opened the cupboard and took out a syringe and a small bottle.He carefully inserted the needle into the vial, and the needle was filled with a transparent liquid in a short while. Jonas flinched in sympathy, forgetting that newborns needed injections.

He himself hated injections, although he knew they were necessary. Unexpectedly, the father inserted the needle into the baby's forehead very carefully. The baby's pulse was beating under the fragile skin. He twisted his whole body and let out a weeping sound. "Why did he..." "Hush!" The Giver stopped in a low voice. His dad was talking, and it occurred to Jonas that he could hear the answer to his original question.Dad said in that special tone of his, "I know, I know, it hurts, little one. But I have to find the veins, they're too thin in your hand."

He pushed the needle very slowly, injecting the fluid into a vein in the scalp until the syringe was completely empty. "It's done, it's not that bad, is it?" Jonas heard his father say happily, and turned to throw the syringe into the trash. Knowing that the Giver didn't want to talk, Jonas said to himself, "So that's the way to clean him and make him comfortable." Jonas continued to watch. The baby had stopped crying, and suddenly his limbs twitched and then went limp.His head hung to one side, his eyes half-closed, completely still. Jonas felt a strange, shocking feeling in his heart. He had seen such a posture and expression, and the look was so familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before.

Jonas stared at the screen, waiting for what happened next.But the younger twin lay motionless as his dad packed things, folded blankets and closed cupboards. He seemed to have returned to the battlefield again, and the air almost froze.He saw the face with the blond hair loose, the bloodied soldier with the empty eyes—the memory came back. He killed the baby!My dad killed the baby!Jonas was horrified by what he had just learned.He stared numbly at the screen. After Dad cleaned up the room, he took a small cardboard box on the floor to the bed, put the limp corpse in it, and closed the lid tightly. He picked up the cardboard box, walked across the room, and opened the small door in the wall, behind which Jonas saw darkness, like the school's trash chute. Dad put the carton containing the corpse into the chute and pushed it gently. Jonas heard Dad say, "Goodbye, little one," before leaving the room. Then the screen goes blank. The Giver turned to face him' and began to narrate very calmly: "The announcer informed me that Rosemary had asked for emancipation, and they showed me the process. She stood there waiting, and that was the last time I saw that The beautiful figure of the child. They brought the needles and asked her to roll up her sleeves. Jonas, you asked me if she was not brave enough? I don't understand bravery. What is bravery? What does it mean? All I know is I Sitting here limp, terrified, chilled all over. I heard Rosemary tell them she'd rather inject herself. She did, I didn't look, I turned my head away." The Giver looked at him. "Well, Jonas, here's the liberation you've been wanting to know." His voice was bitter. It was as if someone was tearing at Jonas's chest, waves of great pain emerged, and finally broke out into heart-piercing cries.