How does Jonas help Gabriel sleep?

In The Giver, Jonas helps Gabriel sleep by transmitting peaceful memories to him through touch. When Gabriel is restless at night, Jonas puts his hands on him and thinks about a happy memory The Giver had given him, a beautiful day spent sailing. Jonas then realizes the memory is passing from him into Gabriel: “He was not aware of giving the memory; but suddenly he realized that it was becoming dimmer, that it was sliding through his hand into the being of the newchild.”

At first, Jonas stops because he knows he is breaking the rules. But when Gabriel begins to fret again, Jonas chooses to transmit the full memory. The memory calms Gabriel, and he is able to sleep. This moment is important for Jonas because it means he is no longer just receiving memories from The Giver—he discovers that he can give them to Gabriel, too.

Jonas later uses this same ability in different ways. During the escape from the community, he transmits memories of exhaustion to make Gabriel sleep while they hide during the day. He also transmits memories of snow to cool their bodies when planes search for them with heat-seeking devices. What begins as a simple act of comfort becomes part of Jonas’s larger effort to keep Gabriel alive. His care for Gabriel grows out of the same memories that teach him love, pain, and the value of one individual life.