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Lily, Jonas’s younger sister, is a talkative and active seven-year-old. She loves to chat and recount stories from her day at school, so much so that her parents joke that she should be given the position of Storyteller once she reaches age 12, while Jonas thinks that Lily would make a good Speaker, “so that she could sit in the office with the microphone all day, making announcements.” Lily also enjoys caring for baby Gabriel while he lives with the family and considers volunteering at the Nurturing Center when she reaches the appropriate age. She’s very young, however, and so is still actively developing her abilities and self-identity.
Like the rest of the children in The Giver, Lily does have her own distinct personality, despite the Community’s stifling of individuality. However, as Jonas remarks as he begins to learn more from the Giver, her feelings and interests are shallow, and she will never self-actualize if she continues to grow up in the strict confines of the Community, which is devoid of emotional and intellectual complexity.
Lily and Jonas are likely not biological siblings, as children are not conceived through their parents but through Birthmothers, and then later assigned to different families. As Jonas begins to learn more about love and family through the Giver, he seems to find more of a connection with Gabriel than he does with Lily, likely because of Gabriel’s ability to receive memories that are filled with true emotion, therefore allowing the two to share a more genuine sibling bond. Although Jonas does care for his family, he becomes more and more detached from them as he plans his escape. The ease with which he leaves Lily behind shows how the Community lacks true familial relations and emotional intimacy.
