Because the Committee of Elders seldom asks The Giver for advice, The Giver spends the majority of his time alone with his memories. The Giver tells Jonas about the two times when the committee asked for his advice. Once, the Elders were considering an increase in population because they wanted to have more Laborers. The Giver advised against it because he had memories of situations involving too many people and not enough food, and the people starved. The committee also sought The Giver's advice the time a pilot mistakenly flew over the community — supposedly the incident that begins this novel. The committee wanted to shoot down the plane immediately, but The Giver advised against such action because his memories include times in which people impulsively shot at planes and ended up bringing about their own demise. The Giver explains to Jonas that gaining knowledge from the memories is what makes the memories invaluable.
Confused, Jonas questions why a Receiver is needed if the Committee of Elders never asks for advice. The Giver explains that the real reason why the Elders value the Receiver of Memory is because The Receiver carries the burden of all pain; without The Receiver, the people would have to share in painful memories. And, of course, the people do not want to feel pain. Ten years earlier, the female who had been selected to be The Receiver failed. When she was released, the memories that she had already received from The Giver were then experienced, or felt, by the people, causing them great discomfort. They were reminded of feelings and memories. The chaotic situation that the people experienced when this new Receiver failed emphasizes the notion that everyone is interdependent, an important theme in the novel.
