The Giver/Characters

A listing of characters who appear in Lois Lowry's The Giver (and its "sequels"). Beware of unmarked spoilers!

Jonas

 * Blue Eyes: As they are very rare in the community, they are taken as a hint of his Receiving capabilities.
 * Conditioned to Accept Horror
 * The Chosen One: And how!
 * Erotic Dream: Jonas' dream of his "favorite female friend," Fiona, which prompts his mother to start giving him the pills.
 * Heroes Want Redheads: He has his Stirrings on Fiona.
 * Love Interest: Fiona
 * Meaningful Name: Jonas is a variation of Jonah, as in the reluctant prophet Jonah. Jonas knows that what the community is doing is wrong, but he is afraid to do the right thing and leave until someone around him is in danger, at which point he assumes the mantle of prophet and leaves the community at great risk to his own life, giving Gabriel a chance to live and releasing the stored memories back to the community.
 * Nice Guy
 * Nightmare Fuel: Some of the memories he gets from the Giver.
 * War Is Hell: He receives one about a dying (implied to be Civil War) soldier. And it lasted for hours.
 * Only One Name
 * Psychic Powers: To a certain extent.
 * Someone Has to Do It
 * What Is This Thing You Call Love?: When Jonas learns about love through memories received from the Giver and asks his parents if they love him, they admonish him for not using precise language and say that asking "Do you enjoy me?" or "Do you take pride in my accomplishments?" would have been better.
 * What Is This Thing You Call Love?: When Jonas learns about love through memories received from the Giver and asks his parents if they love him, they admonish him for not using precise language and say that asking "Do you enjoy me?" or "Do you take pride in my accomplishments?" would have been better.

The Giver

 * Character Title
 * Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": His real name is never revealed.
 * No Name Given
 * The Mentor: To Jonas.
 * Younger Than They Look: While it's unclear how old he actually is, it's (very briefly) mentioned that the stress of keeping all the memories is part of the reason he looks so old.

Asher

 * Cheerful Child / Keet
 * The Hedonist: Is absolutely delighted when he is assigned to be the Assistant Director of Recreation.
 * Meaningful Name: "Asher" means "happy."
 * Only One Name

Fiona

 * Fiery Redhead: Inverted. She is said to be calm and serene from Jonas.
 * Nice Girl: Though
 * Only One Name

Rosemary
"Ophelia: There's rosemary, that's for ..."
 * In the Blood:
 * Meaningful Name: Boy howdy. After  the community banned her name, decreeing that it was never to be used for a new child again.
 * Meaningful Name: Boy howdy. After  the community banned her name, decreeing that it was never to be used for a new child again.


 * Posthumous Character: Big time.
 * Released to Elsewhere
 * Unperson

Gabe

 * Blue Eyes
 * Cheerful Child

Jonas' family

 * Annoying Younger Sibling: Lily can come off as this sometimes.
 * Motor Mouth: Lily. She does almost all of the talking out of her whole family.
 * Nuclear Family: Minus the dog.

Kira

 * The Chosen One: Along with Thomas
 * Cool Big Sis: To Matty.
 * Disappeared Dad:
 * Missing Mom: Her mother dies at the beginning of the book.
 * Disability Superpower: She's been crippled since birth, but since her mother's death, her  weaving skills keep her from being killed by the council.
 * Incorruptible Pure Pureness
 * Love Interest:
 * Two Guys and A Girl: With Thomas and Matt.
 * Two Guys and A Girl: With Thomas and Matt.

Matty

 * A Boy and His X: His dog Branchie.
 * Happily Adopted: In Messenger, he is now Seer / Christopher's adopted son.
 * The Medic:
 * Non-Human Sidekick: Branchie.
 * Sidekick
 * Tagalong Kid: To Kira in Gathering Blue.
 * Tagalong Kid: To Kira in Gathering Blue.

Christopher

 * Disappeared Dad

Jamison

 * Cool Old Guy:

Thomas

 * The Chosen One
 * Ship Tease: With Kira, but it's revealed in Messenger that he's gotten married.

Leader

 * Blue Eyes:
 * Epileptic Trees:
 * Psychic Powers
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Ship Tease: Done rather subtly with Kira.