Blue Eyes
Symbol Analysis
Jonas, The Giver, and Gabriel all stand out in the community because of their blue eyes. This difference shows the impossibility of the community's efforts to control nature completely, no matter how hard it tries. In addition, the fact that only the characters with blue eyes are able to see color (the rest of the community sees only in black and white) and to receive memories and feel true, deep emotion suggests that it is only those who are different who are able to notice the differences in others.
The Snow-covered Hill
Symbol Analysis
The hill, for Jonas, represents a gateway to Elsewhere. Riding a red sled down the hill is his first memory and his first awareness of the color red. It signifies his realization that outside his community there is a world not dominated by Sameness. Later, Jonas dreams of the hill and feels the need "to reach the something that waited in the distance," something "good…welcoming… [and] significant." Yet, through memories of the hill, Jonas learns the precarious relationship between joy and pain; without one, the other cannot exist. Jonas's first experience with real pain is falling off the same sled that thrilled him only days earlier.
The River
Symbol Analysis
The river forms a border of the community before continuing on to Elsewhere. As a border, the river comes to symbolize escape—crossing the river means leaving the community. Because it takes the life of the four-year-old Caleb, the river also symbolizes the danger inherent in that escape.