The Giver is a Utopian novel, meaning it is about a future Utopian, or perfect, society. No one there feels strong emotions, no one sees color and everyone knows their roles in the society. Every year, when the children turn 12, they are given their assignment. This will be the training they will undergo for their career. Jonas is given an assignment that he has never heard of before. He is told he will be 'the receiver. He is very worried because he has never heard of this although many around him speak of this as being an honor. It still seems everyone is very surprised. Jonas finds out that 'the giver' holds all the memories from society long before this new perfect society was formed. The giver remembers colors, pain, books...etc. It is Jonas's duty to receive these memories. As he goes through this process though, he finds out some frightening things about this perfect way of living and must decide what he will do with his new knowledge. There is a lot of inner conflict and self discovery in this novel.