Jonas

This boy is the main hero of the story and an absolute novel’s protagonist. He is intelligent, courageous and very brave. He cares about people who surround him. He is selected to become a new Receiver of Memory, which entails holding society's memories and providing guidance to the Elders.

In the culmination of the story, we see that he is someone else than all previous Receivers. He never accepts killing kids or anyone else, for his death is a big deal, and people can’t accept it as a normal thing.

Nevertheless, he continues being The Receiver but thinks what if he will take action to place his community on a new path.

So, on the surface, Jonas is like any other eleven-year-old boy living in his community. He seems more intelligent and perceptive than many of his peers, and he thinks more seriously than they do about life, worrying about his own future as well as his friend Asher’s. He enjoys learning and experiencing new things: he chooses to volunteer at a variety of different centers rather than focusing on one because he enjoys the freedom of choice that volunteer hours provide. He also enjoys learning about and connecting with other people, and he craves more warmth and human contact than his society permits or encourages. The things that really set him apart from his peers – his unusual eyes, his ability to see things change in a way that he cannot explain – trouble him, but he does not let them bother him too much, since the community’s emphasis on politeness makes it easy for Jonas to conceal or ignore these little differences. Like any child in the community, Jonas is uncomfortable with the attention he receives when he is singled out as the new Receiver, preferring to blend in with his friends.