Chapters 5 and 6: Summary

At the beginning of Chapter 5, during the morning ritual of narrating dreams, Jonas tells his family members about a peculiar dream from the previous night. He’d dreamt that he was in the bathing room at the House of Old and had wanted his friend Fiona to remove her clothes and bathe with him. Upon hearing this dream, Jonas’ mother tells him to start taking a pill. She explains that all adults in the community take the pill every day to stifle the “Stirrings”—sexual desires.

As Chapter 6 begins, Jonas’ family is preparing to attend the two-day December Ceremony. By describing the rules appropriate for each peer group, Lowry develops the theme of “individuality versus conformity.” Fours, Fives, and Sixes are required to wear jackets that button up the back. As Sevens, they will receive a jacket they will have to button themselves. At eight, they are allowed to volunteer. When they turn nine, they are given bikes.

Rather than be labeled “inadequate” and released from the community (because he hasn’t gained the required weight and doesn’t yet sleep through the entire night), Gabriel has been given a reprieve, a second chance. He can continue to live with Jonas’ family on the condition that they do not get attached to him.

Everyone in the community attends the December Ceremony, which is held in the Auditorium. The Ceremony begins with the Naming and Placement of newborns. On this occasion, one family receives a “replacement child” named Caleb, because their first child, also named Caleb, had fallen into a river.

Chapters 5 and 6: Analysis

These chapters explain how the community deals with sexual attraction and puberty. Jonas does not know what to make of his dream about Fiona. His mother assures Jonas that his feelings—or Stirrings—are completely normal. Even though the Stirrings are normal, the community wishes to control them by prescribing a pill to everyone. This is yet another example of how the community exercises control over its individuals and suppresses all desires and feelings.

The Caleb incident demonstrates how the community deals with untimely death. Instead of admitting that Caleb drowned, the community pretends that he drifted into “Elsewhere.” He was simply replaced by another Caleb, another instance that shows that an individual’s life holds no value in this community.