That night following the Christmas memory, Jonas courageously asks his parents if they love him. They laugh at him and remind him that he needs to use precise language. They tell him that the word love is too generalized a word, so meaningless that "it's become almost obsolete." His mother even asks him if he "understands why it is inappropriate to use a word like 'love.'" Dumbfounded by his mother's response, Jonas again faces the realization that his own parents, as well as everyone in the community, stopped having individual feelings when they chose Sameness. His parents don't know what love is. Jonas feels sad because he has experienced love, and love does have meaning for him. At the conclusion of Chapter 16, Lowry foreshadows the future when Jonas whispers to Gabe that life in the community could be different if people would change: "There could be love."
Lowry leads us to believe that the mood of Chapter 17 will be less serious than in previous chapters. An unscheduled holiday is announced over the loudspeaker. Everyone has the day off from work, school, training, and volunteer hours. Ironically, Lowry writes, "the community was free." We know, however, that the community is not free. The people follow strict rules and can be observed or listened to at any moment by the Committee of Elders. The people chose this way of life because they chose Sameness. Lowry returns, once again, to a significant theme in the novel. When the people chose Sameness, they chose to give up their freedom and individuality, a choice that is ultimately destructive.
Jonas rides his bicycle to find Asher and to enjoy the holiday. While he is riding, he analyzes his feelings, which he now understands have more depth. He compares his own feelings to everyone else's feelings and concludes that people in the community have shallow feelings. Jonas knows from the memories he has newly experienced that the feelings that people discuss during the nightly ritual of emotional sharing cannot simply be discussed; they must be felt.
