Admonition means a warning or advice.
To admonish means to tell someone what to do. This can mean a warning or advice. Jonas uses the word admonition to describe the rules and instructions he is given for his training.
He was very aware of his own admonition not to discuss his training. But it would have been impossible, anyway. There was no way to describe to his friends what he had experienced there in the Annex room. (Ch. 12)
Jonas’s instructions told him not to tell anyone else what was happening in his training. This is because Jonas’s training is very secret. He is being trained as the Receiver of Memory and has access to information that no one else in his community is privy to.
Jonas says that he would not be able to describe his training even if he wanted to. It is just so far beyond everyone else’s experience. In his community, no one really feels. When Jonas does try interacting with people based on the information only he has, it ends up disastrously.
Jonas tries to advise Asher not to play war games. No one in the community really understands the concept of war or death. Jonas has seen memories of war, and it is all too real to him. Yet when he tries to explain this to Asher, all he does is confuse and irritate his friend.
"Don't play it anymore," Jonas pleaded.
"I'm the one who's training for Assistant Recreation Director," Asher pointed out angrily. "Games aren't your area of expertness." (Ch. 17)
The same thing happens when Jonas tries to question his parents about the concept of love. He asks them if they love him, and they react with gentle amusement. He is scolded about using imprecise language, but Jonas knows that there is nothing more precise than the word love. It describes a real feeling, but it is one his parents can’t possibly understand. Like everyone else in the community, they have no idea what it means.
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