What do you think “Love” means in Jonas’ community? I predict that Love could be such a powerful word that it’s completely useless. I think this because in Chapter 16, after Jonas’ training, he returns home asking his father,

“Do you love me?”

His father replies with a chuckle and says that he needs to be more precise in language, preferably as, “Do you enjoy me,” or “Do you appreciate me?”

His father probably told him to correct himself because he doesn’t feel, or know what love really means. Love connects to enjoy and appreciate, they both mean “Do you like me?” though love is more of an emotion.

Love is that word that is so strong, emotional, and sometimes painful, like when a loss of a “loved one” as in our world. I think that’s why they created Sameness, and a match (a spouse), so that when an elder from that Family Unit is released, the others don’t feel depressed that a “loved” one has been lost into a “happy” place. They don’t want people do love each other, so they take pills to lose the feeling of love.

What do you think Love means?