Okay so this is what I think happened to the community after they got their memories back.
Joy. What was true joy? That feeling of something in your chest, bursting through your soul, so beautiful, and yet so fleeting. They weren't ready for it. They hated it; they hated what it drove them to do. But they loved it as well.
Pain. True suffering. The agony in the pit of your stomach. They learned it was called hunger, and it gnawed you up and your only thought is craving for it to end.
The people of the community didn't get the memories slowly, when they were ready like Jonas had. The memories were like a hurricane, sweeping them up, tearing apart their world, dropping them, unsure who they were, or why they were there.
For the first time they learned what anger was, what hatred was, that small flicker that started in your chest, which rose to a fire, and blocked out all thoughts until all that was left was thirst for blood.
They tried to hide, but you can escape reality. They huddled together terrified, finding peace with each other. But the memories even that, for now there was distrust, and dislike, opinions and disagreements.
People could no longer be near each other, speak without anger, and talk without loathing and disgust in their eyes.
They were different. She liked things that others hated.
And the Giver couldn't stop it. They knew now they had been lied to, so why should they trust him, this little old man with the strange eyes that had kept all this way from them.
They knew now what they had done, that by releasing, they had murdered, and were no better than their ancestors, those who had destroyed everything, and forced the creation of Sameness.
It looked hopeless, for how could you save the souls of those who never had one? Finally the Giver took it upon him to save what was left of these shattered people.
He showed them how to farm, how to curb their hunger. He taught them to sing, and how to dance away their worries. They learned how to love, how to truly want nothing more than your partners body against yours. He taught them choice, what was right, and what wasn't.
And them something changed. He looked out into the community, and he saw something. He saw the children playing, the people farming, and laughter in the air, bound together with something far more precious than anything they'd ever felt before. And he smiled, for he finally had a memory of his own. That's how they would always remember him, standing there, joy in his eyes, his soul free. He was dead the next day, for he had set them free, and they no longer needed them.
And so from the ashes rose something beautiful, and pure. That night, at his funeral, someone began to sing. It started low, and rose to a soprano, and somewhere far far way, a pale-eyed boy smiled.
I hope you guys liked it! Please R&R! ;)