Precise language, however, is not always precise. Many times, the meaning of a word is other than the dictionary meaning. For example, during the evening sharing of feelings, Lily explains her anger at a boy who visited her school that day but who didn't understand the playground rules. The visitor behaved differently, so Lily and Jonas call him an "animal." To them, the word "animal" means "someone uneducated or clumsy, someone who didn't fit in." However, Lily and Jonas don't really know what an animal is because apparently animals do not exist in their community. That people in the community, because they have never had contact with animals, believe that animals are imaginary can be seen in the comfort objects which Sevens and younger sleep with. Comfort objects are stuffed animals that represent actual animals. Each new-child (infant) is issued one comfort object and can keep it until the age of eight, when it is turned in to be recycled for use by another newborn. Jonas' comfort object was a bear, and Lily's is an elephant.
As Lowry discloses other meaningful details about the community, tension builds because something doesn't seem quite right. We find out that everyone in the community lives by rules contained in the Book of Rules. Adults do not choose their own spouses; instead, they are matched according to their personalities. Each family is called a family unit and is made up of a mother, a father, and two children — one male child and one female child. Parents in a family unit must apply for each child. When their application is accepted and they have been matched with one of the babies born during the year (only a maximum of fifty babies are born each year to control the population), they receive a newchild at the December Ceremony, when the infant is named and becomes a One (one year old). Birthdays are not exact: A child's age always increases each December, even if the child's birthday is not in December. After a person reaches the age of twelve, birthdays are no longer observed.
