But what wisdom do you get from hunger?" Jonas groaned. His stomach still hurt, though the memory had ended. "Some years ago," The Giver told him, "before your birth, a lot of citizens petitioned the Committee of Elders. They wanted to increase the rate of births. They wanted each Birthmother to be assigned four births instead of three, so that the population would increase and there would be more Laborers available." Jonas nodded, listening. "That makes sense." "The idea was that certain family units could accommodate an additional child." Jonas nodded again. "Mine could," he pointed out. "We have Gabriel this year, and it's fun, having a third child." "The Committee of Elders sought my advice," The Giver said. "It made sense to them, too, but it was a new idea, and they came to me for wisdom." "And you used your memories?" The Giver said yes. "And the strongest memory that came was hunger. It came from many generations back. Centuries back. The population had gotten so big that hunger was everywhere. Excruciating hunger and starvation. It was followed by warfare." Warfare? It was a concept Jonas did not know. But hunger was familiar to him now. Unconsciously he rubbed his own abdomen, recalling the pain of its unfulfilled needs. "So you described that to them?" "They don't want to hear about pain. They just seek the advice. I simply advised them against increasing the population.
( Lois Lowry )
[ The Giver ]
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