Home > The Giver Summary & Study Guide > The Giver Group > Discussion Board

What happend in the end of The Giver when Jonas left the community?

There is a great discussion board question about this, too - you should check that out.  I'm including it as the second link here.

When Jonas leaves the community, we only know a little bit of what happens to him.  We know that he and Gabe escape, riding on Jonas's father's bicycle.  They have to travel mostly at night at first, to avoid being found by the community.  Sometimes, the heat-seeking airplanes come looking for them, and Jonas has to transfer memories of cold to Gabe so the two of them can lower their body temperature and remain undetected by the aircraft.  Their journey is long and difficult; they have little food and energy, and they don't know where they are going.  Jonas pushes along, motivated by his desire to save Gabe from releasing and to bring change to his community. 

During the journey, they encounter new things, like wildlife.  They have never seen birds until this time; they have never caught a fish.  So they have all sorts of experiences along the way to prepare them for life outside the community.  At the end of the book, when Jonas is almost out of motivation and hope, he finds a sled in the snow, at the top of a hill.  When he and Gabe climb onto the sled, we are left with no resolution; we don't know what happens after that.  We can only guess that they make it to a new community and find a new life, or whatever we want their ending to be.  I did read for sure that Lowry never intended us to believe that they died; in her mind, Jonas and Gabe live on after the story.  It's up to the reader to decide how they do it.

Some people believe that Jonas and Gabe die, that the lights and music at the end are only memories, or hallucinations as they freeze to death. Others believe that Jonas and Gabe have found communities who live in the old way, with music and color and joy, as well as pain and suffering. I choose to believe that they reach another community of people who live life as it is in Jonas' memories from the Giver. 

jonas founds a village.  in the following books, Gathering Blue and Messenger, he is not refered to as jonas, but Leader.  you can tell it is jonas, because Leader has pale eyes like jonas.  he also talks about how he escaped from the community.  nothing is said about Gabe though.  i assume he is livin somewhere in jonas's village

It is strongly implied that Jonas finds a new village and drives forward with Gabe to the village. While the book doesn't end IN the village, Jonas and Gabe are very close to it. They can hear music, see lights, and they are at the top of the hill that will bring them down to the village. After such a long journey, I can't imagine that Jonas would want to go anywhere except to a place where Gabe and he can learn more and enjoy new experiences.

What every one said was true, but you should read it for yourself because the ending was so great and well written.