"We failed in our last selection,” the Chief Elder said solemnly. “It was ten years ago, when Jonas was just a toddler. I will not dwell on the experience because it causes us all terrible discomfort." Jonas didn't know what she was referring to, but he could sense the discomfort of the audience. They shifted uneasily in their seats. "We have not been hasty this time," she continued." "We could not afford another failure." "We have had our current Receiver for a very long time," she went on. Jonas followed her eyes and saw that she was looking at one of the Elders. The Commitee of Elders was sitting together in a group; and the Chief Elder's eyes were now on one who sat in the midst but seemed oddly separate from them. It was a man Jonas had never noticed before, a bearded man with pale eyes. He was watching Jonas intently (60-61)."
This statement, made in Chapter 8 by the Chief Elder at the Ceremony of Twelve, when she introduces Jonas as the new Receiver, is the first reference anyone in The Giver makes to the first choice of Receiver, which failed ten years ago. We realize that the community’s seeming overreaction makes some sense, since the discomfort they felt was by far the worst suffering they had encountered in their lives. Discomfort is the strongest word available to them, given their emphasis on precise language. The normal part of the Community is not supposed to be given any important memories. This goes only to the Givers and Receivers.
Being human in this society means that you have a sufficient lack of knowledge, and you do not learn much vocab. This also relates to religion, because the Givers and Receivers are the all knowing people and everybody looks up to them.
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