the significance of the memory of warfare

Chapter 15 is a pivotal event in Jonas's training as The Receiver because it introduces him to the concept of war, which drives home the terrible nature of a violent death. It certainly seems reasonable that a society would want to avoid such experiences for good. The memory is intense, visceral, and hopeless, and it sensitizes Jonas to the idea of death, a development in his character that will become pivotal in later chapters. The Giver almost immediately regrets transmitting the memory to Jonas, and he asks Jonas for forgiveness, but on another level, the chapter shows that Jonas's society may be to blame for forcing such memories onto one man.