The Giver- Quotation about Lies

"Now Jonas had a thought that he had never had before. This new thought was frightening. What if others- adults- had, upon becoming Twelves, received in their instructions the same terrifying sentence?

What if they had all been instructed: You may lie?

His mind reeled. Now, empowered to ask questions of utmost rudeness- and promised answers- he could, conceivably (though it was unimaginable), ask someone, some adult, his father perhaps: "Do you lie?"

But he would have no way of knowing if the answer he received was true." (pg. 71)

This quote at the very end of chapter 9 really stood out for me. I found it very intriguing that Jonas actually could pin point the fact that if everyone could lie, then himself and the rest of the people in his community, could be living amoung a society of lies. This triggers back to my blog about Individuality vs. Conformity, when I talked about Jonas being different from the rest of his community. When I talked about the blue eyes and how they had depth. Depth that could mean that he is more observant and has a different and better understanding than others.

But his understanding of the fact that he could be living a lie is true. He is living a lie, and he is only starting, a little bit, to understand this. His community is controlled completely, and everyone in it has chosen Sameness over individuality. A question that comes to mind when I read this quote is : Do other people in the community question whether or not people are telling the truth or not when they were given the ability to lie? I can not answer this question, because The Giver was written in third person to Jonas's point of view. All I can know is what he questions or what he is thinking. Jonas has been chosen to gain all the memories of the world and the past, so he obviously has been seen as a child who thinks differently than everyone else, and a child who thinks about the possiblies of more than what is seen.