I have read the giver before but I am going to pretend that I haven’t and think like someone new to the book. So far, we have learned that the society that Jonas lives in has very many and harsh rules. You get your job and spouse picked for you and the children that you have are not actually yours, they come from somebody else who doesn’t donate exactly, but gives them away for other people. If I were to guess, this is in the future, and is the result of some catastrophe that made them change their ways. This is from Jonas’s perspective and it seems like he is about to come to age (12) where they pick out his job from what the elders have observed from all the elevens. The elders as far as I know are the leaders of the community and call all the shots. The required voluntary hours decide what job you will later pursue as an adult. We also have learned that if you commit three transgressions then you get released (which I think it means getting killed), or when you are old then that also happens. I look forward to figuring out what is going to happen, and see what job Jonas is going to get assigned.