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The ending of "The Giver" has been interpreted in many ways. Do Jonas and Gabe reach another community? Is the last scene a dream? Or perhaps, do the two die, and are the lights and music Jonas and Gabe dying and entering the afterlife? What is your interpretation?

Honestly, I think the ending of The Giver sets us up to expect a sequel. I suspect that the original manuscript or book proposal was for a much longer book than what ended up in print and that the publisher decided to break create a series in order to generate more profit. I hate to sound cynical, but having worked in the publishing industry for many years, I know that bringing in revenue is more important than contributing to great literature.

So you don't think that they died, then. When I first read the book I thought they had made it to Elsewhere (maybe it was just me wanting a happy ending) but later in discussion with others, my eyes were opened up to the other possibilities. I wonder if there was a planned sequel? It is such a popular book that I would wonder why Lowry didn't write it. Instead she went on to write "Gathering Blue," which follows a very similar formula but doesn't have quite the same impact in my eyes.

You need to read the third book in the series: "The Messenger." Jonas and Gabriel, from "The Giver," and Matty, from "Gathering Blue," are the main characters in this book.

I have always thought the most reasonable explanation for the ending was that Jonas and Gabriel were dying. I've also read Lois Lowry's own words that she did not intend the ending to be taken that way. The memories that Jonas accesses about winter and Christmas are supposed to be very old. On the other hand, a plane flies overhead at one point. When it comes right down to it, I think she very artfully created a book that lent itself to many interpretations, and all could be backed up with examples from the book.

This is an interesting topic. Did you know that there are sequels to this book? (and a prequel) I've never read them, but from what I understand, they don't talk a whole lot about Jonas.

I have my students write an alternate ending every year when we study the book; they love it. I, myself, prefer to allow for many different endings.

When I taught The Giver, some of my students were very upset by this open-ended conclusion.  Two girls who worked together on a project about the book decided to go to the source and contacted Lois Lowry to ask her opinion about the ending.  As we might expect, Lowry told my students that she intentionally left the ending cryptic because she wanted readers to be able to interpret it as they did.  A friend and I discussed it and decided that we, too (like the poster above), wanted to believe that Jonas and Gabriel had reached "Elsewhere," but the book leads us to believe that "Elsewhere" means death.  So are they dead?  Are they in an afterlife?  Or are they saved?  I don't mind uncertainty in conclusions, but it IS interesting to hear that there are sequels to the book.  I'd love to hear from those who have read the sequels, in part because one person I know even disputed that these are actually "sequels" in the usual sense--just different books that deal with the same characters and concepts.  I am eager to read more in this thread.  

My students' project was amazing, by the way, and I admired their initiative in contacted Lowry.  

When I read it, I honestly thought they were dying.  I thought the whole idea of there being a sled was just too convenient and odd, so I honestly thought he had imagined it and they were dying.  Then I read the interview with Lois Lowry in the back of the book, where she said she intentionally left the ending vague because she wanted people to be able to envision their own future for Jonas and Gabe, but that she definitely did NOT think that the two boys died.

So, if I'm being optimistic, I'd say they find a nice family to take them in, and somehow the society they find in Elsewhere doesn't have the same constraints as the community they came from, so they are able to grow up with actual feelings and family, etc., to envision a brighter future.  Maybe eventually they'll even go back to their community to see if things have changed, or to help create those changes.

Honestly, i do not think Jonas and Gabe died. Seriously, it might just be my optimistic slef saying that they didnt but i just think its too sad to be the ending. I just finished the book today, and absolutly loved it. I dont know if i have read a better book, it was very well thought out and got me thinking, what if our world was really like this? What if we really didnt have any memories, or our own grandparents? What if after we got our own life we never saw our parents again? I think that Lois Lowry wouldnt have left the ending like that if she wanted them to be gone. I think she would have just killed them off and told you so. I honestly did not want them to die. I was very attached to the book and didnt want it to end. I have already started reading Gathering Blue and am very into it. I really hope that like everyone has told me it mentions Jonas and Gabe. I do not think they are dead also becuase it just seems to obvious. I always pverthink things and it might be because of that but anywho I think they found a new home in Elsewhere, a new life, and a new, family. Maybe Jonas might even get to go back to jis community and see The Giver again, but I would rather The Giver get to go see his daughter, Rosemary. I was very surprised when I found out she was his daughter. I had no idea and dint even think about it. I was so glad when Jonas took off with Gabe, i almost cried when I found out Gabe was going to get released.

i think that they lived

                         1. because in the first memory jonas had that aching feeling that something lay beyond that hill.

                       2. he lost all of his memories so how could he get them back?

                     3. because in the messenger the characters of gabriel and jonas showed up again