Jonas' mother

The dutiful judge

Jonas' mother is another important character in the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry. She lives in a row house together with her husband, her son Jonas and her daughter Lily. She is not the biological mother of her two children, because they were assigned to her when the children were about one year old. 

Jonas's mother works in the Department of Justice. She holds a "prominent position" in which she determines the punishments for offenders, meaning that she is most likely a judge (Chapter 1, 82%). Her profession was assigned to her by the Elder's committee at the Ceremony of Twelve. 

Jonas’ was happy with her job assignment. She saw only the positive aspects of her situation: "After my Ceremony of Twelve, I missed my childhood recreation. But when I entered my training for Law and Justice, I found myself with people who shared my interests. I made friends on a new level, friends of all ages." (Chapter 2, 80%). Playing was then no longer so important to the mother, as she was doing something that interested her (Chapter 2, 90%).

The mother seems to love her job. She still works at home in the evening after dinner: "Her work never seemed to end, even when she was at home in the evening" (Chapter 2, 100%). She is thus portrayed as a hardworking, dutiful, and ambitious woman who takes her job seriously and who thinks hard about how the community can best function. 

For example, Jo...