Summary of Chapter 4

Summary of Chapter 4

Jonas rides his bike to find where his friend Asher is doing his volunteer hours.

He thinks about what a luxury it is to choose what he wants to do during these hours when the rest of the day is so carefully regulated.

We learn that there is a rule against bragging.

Jonas finds his friends Asher and Fiona at the House of the Old, so he joins them to volunteer there.

Jonas gives a bath to an old woman named Larissa.  He likes the peace and trust that the old woman feels.  It is against the rules to look at another’s nakedness; but the rule does not apply to Newchildren or the Old.  If you accidentally see another’s body, you must say a required apology.

Larissa tells Jonas that they celebrated a Release that morning.  She tells him that the man who was released, Roberto, looked very happy when they let him go.

Jonas asks her where people actually go when they are released and what happens.  Larissa says: “I don’t know.  I don’t think anybody does, except the committee.  He just bowed to all of us and then walked, like they all do, through the special door in the Releasing Room.”