The rule regarding nudity in Jonas's community is discussed in chapter 4, when Jonas travels to the House of the Old to complete his required volunteer hours. For his volunteer hours, Jonas helps bathe an elderly woman named Larissa. As Larissa removes her robe and Jonas runs the water for her bath, the narrator elaborates on the rule regarding nakedness. In Jonas's community, it is against the rules for children and adults to look at each other naked. However, the rule does not apply to newchildren and the elderly. Jonas is glad that the rule does not apply to the elderly, because it would be a nuisance to bathe a person with their clothes on.

Jonas's society is founded on the principles of Sameness, and there are strict rules regarding uniformity, language, and rudeness. In Jonas's community, conformity is required, and the culture is extremely conservative. It is also considered rude to call attention to things that are unsettling or different about individuals, which explains why there is a rule regarding nakedness. In order to avoid people noticing minor differences in each other's bodies, the Committee of Elders prohibits children and adults from being naked around each other. Later on, Jonas is selected to be the community's next Receiver of Memory and is exempt from many rules.