Jonas – Hero’s Journey

The Mundane World

Jonas is an eleven year old boy who lives in an apparent utopia. There is no pain or anguish, emotions are suppressed, and everyone is basically the same. He lives with his parents (not his biological parents) and his sister Lily.

The Call To Adventure

Jonas attends the Ceremony of Twelve to receive his job that he will be doing the rest of his life. This is customary for everyone who turns twelve in his community. The Council of Elders give Jonas the job of “Receiver of Memory.”

Crossing The Threshold

Jonas meets “The Giver,” the man who has held all the memories of the community such as pain, adventure, music, and many more. The first memory Jonas receives is sledding down a hill in the winter time.

The Path of Trials

Jonas goes through a lot while receiving the memories from The Giver. He first gets happy memories but after a while The Giver has to give him a painful memory. Jonas at first is horrified but learns to deal with the burden.

Jonas goes home to find that there is a new baby in the house named Gabriel. Gabriel seems to be like Jonas, but is having a lot of trouble and may have to be “released”. Being “released”, as Jonas finds out, isn’t taking them to a new place but rather a form of euthanasia. Not wanting Gabriel to die, Jonas sets a plan in motion with The Giver.

Master of Two Worlds

Jonas feels that everyone needs to feel the memories he has in his head and decides to leave the community with Gabriel. With the help of The Giver he leaves his home and sets off with Gabriel. He knows that as he leaves the memories will find their way back to everyone, and people will start to gain what they have lost.

Jonas becomes the Master of Two Worlds when he realizes that while having no pain and anguish might be good, the sacrifice of love, joy, and everything else that was good isn’t worth it.

Submitted by: Steve Kessel

Tags: Male

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