" Gabriel's breathing was even and deep. Jonas liked having him there, though he felt guilty about the secret. Each night he gave memories to Gabriel: memories of boat rides and picnics in the sun; memories of soft rainfall against windowpanes; memories of dancing bare-footed on a damp lawn.
"Gabe?"
The new child stirred slightly in his sleep, Jonas looked over at him.
"There could be love" Jonas whispered.
The next morning, for the first time, Jonas did not take his pill. Something within him, something that had grown there through the memories, told him to throw the pill away"
This quote relates to the theme of choice because Jonas chooses to throw away his pill, something that no one in his community does. No one chooses for themselves, they do as they are told. The quote tells us that in one of the memories, somebody chose something, and that part of the memory grew in Jonas's mind. In this particular quote, he doesn't know what it is that made him throw the pill away. This is because no one in his community knows about choice, as I said before. It is as alien as flowers shooting lasers out of their petals, a completely ludicrous idea.
The quote relates to freedom as well, because the freedom implied is the ability to make your own choices. Like when Jonas gives the memories to Gabe, he feels guilty about the secret, because he is making his own decision and throwing caution to the winds, in a way. He is making his own decision here because he wants the little baby to be able to fall asleep successfully, and not wake up screaming in the middle of the night. He is not just thinking that the baby will be able to fall asleep by itself and forgetting about him. He is trying to help the baby fall asleep, and the only way to do this is by giving the child pleasurable memories. This means making a choice. He could easily have been like everyone else and stuck to the rules and let Gabe sleep on his own. But he made the decision to help the child, which shows that he has his own free will, and can make his own choices.
In two (or more) well structured paragraphs explain how the above quote and the rest how chapters 16 ~ 18 relate to the themes of freedom and choice.
This quote relates to the theme of choice because Jonas chooses to throw away his pill, something that no one in his community does. No one chooses for themselves, they do as they are told. The quote tells us that in one of the memories, somebody chose something, and that part of the memory grew in Jonas's mind. In this particular quote, he doesn't know what it is that made him throw the pill away. This is because no one in his community knows about choice, as I said before. It is as alien as flowers shooting lasers out of their petals, a completely ludicrous idea.
The quote relates to freedom as well, because the freedom implied is the ability to make your own choices. Like when Jonas gives the memories to Gabe, he feels guilty about the secret, because he is making his own decision and throwing caution to the winds, in a way. He is making his own decision here because he wants the little baby to be able to fall asleep successfully, and not wake up screaming in the middle of the night. He is not just thinking that the baby will be able to fall asleep by itself and forgetting about him. He is trying to help the baby fall asleep, and the only way to do this is by giving the child pleasurable memories. This means making a choice. He could easily have been like everyone else and stuck to the rules and let Gabe sleep on his own. But he made the decision to help the child, which shows that he has his own free will, and can make his own choices.
