The emotional climax of the novel is when Jonas finally becomes aware of the true meaning of release and realizes that the community's ideals are far from being idealistic. After watching the release of the smaller twin, everything changes for Jonas and can never be the same again. Jonas refuses to go home. Both angry and sad, he sarcastically mocks people who kill other people in the community. The Giver helps Jonas to understand that the people don't know what they are doing: They are simply following the rules. Because they have no memory of death, loss, pain, and murder, they do not associate a release with any feelings because they have no feelings. They gave up their feelings when they chose Sameness. Lowry shows us what can happen when people are blindly obedient to rules. When people give up their freedom to think as individuals, horrible things can — and do — happen. They become robots without the ability to think for themselves.
The falling action of the novel — in literary terms, known as de-nouement — begins as The Giver and Jonas decide that things in the community must change, that neither one of them can tolerate the people's Sameness and blind obedience any longer. Because Jonas and The Giver have the memories, they know that at one time the people in the community also had the memories — before they chose Sameness.
Jonas and The Giver talk until very late, developing a plan to save the people in the community from their own senseless inhumanity. Jonas is willing to risk his life because even if he were to stay in the community, his life would no longer be worth living. Jonas plans to escape to Elsewhere and thereby force the community to share the immense, painful burden of the memories that Jonas has received from The Giver. The Giver will stay in the community to help the people deal with the memories, for if the people don't have The Giver's help, they will probably destroy themselves. Jonas doesn't want to leave The Giver, his only real friend, behind. Although Jonas tells The Giver that they "don't need to care about the rest of them," he knows that his statement isn't true. They need to care because caring about others is "the meaning of everything."
