Believe in Yourself

Why does Jonas find the instructions about lying so disturbing?

I think Jonas finds it lying disturbing because one of Jonas main childhood beliefs was never to tell a lie. Jonas obviously knows that it is an honour to be the reciever of memories but he doesnt want to lie. I dont think that anybody would easily want to stop following a rule that they have grown up following. Jonas probably wont lie to anybody unless he absolutely has no choice, like if they asked him about his training or about dreams.


Another thing that would bother Jonas would be that nobody else would know many things that Jonas and the Giver do. The only person that Jonas can talk to is the Giver and it is difficult to keep so much to your self for such a long time. During his life of lies people will start realizing that he is lying and then maybe the truth would be blown, then he would live in a life of shame. He is thinking ahead of what will happen when he lies how might people react to his response? Another thing that I think he may be feeling is that he doesnt know how things will end up.

If Jonas did lie, he would be hiding his life from his family. He has to keep his mouth closed and not talk about how he felt at the dinner table. He would have to lie to cover up for things that might seem different about him, if it has something to do with his training. Something else that might make him annoyed is that with those new memories he would feel strange things that might hurt him, he might be scared and when he remembers he might not seem as if he were happy when he really is scared, he might feel shame because of lying although it is part of his job.