We had read the book; The Giver in our Rogate class. We had finished and the end was a cliffhanger. The book had ended while Jonas was almost freezing to death with his "little brother" and there was a sled at the top of the hill. The book ended with, "Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he ad left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo." That had left the entire class wondering, was he dreaming? dead? or was all of that really happening? I thought of the end of the story literal. I think Jonas was a and is a live. Nothing can change my opinion because I feel very strong about it. I think he actually did run away.
The author, Lois Lowry had gotten many interviews asking what really happened to Jonas. She says she leaves it up to everyone and they can make their own ending up.
Student Question: Dear Lois Lowry, My name is Melissa. My class just finished the book The Giver(aka Great Book). But we have to do a project and ask you questions: Did Jonas marry anyone in his later life? Did Jonas go to college? Did Jonas ever return to the community? Did Jonas get a job? Did Jonas buy a house? Please answer these questions as soon as possible. Thanks a lot and good job on both Number the Stars and The Giver. I read both. MelissaLois Lowry: You will meet Jonas again very soon in a book called Messenger to be published in April. I don’t want to ruin the book for you by answering your questions too specifically. But it is about 7 years after the end of The Giver. So Jonas is a young man. He has a particular role, or job, in the place where he lives. He lives in his own house. Not married... But... oh, that’s all I’m going to tell you.
But reading Lois Lowry's response she partly admits that Jonas is infact a live.
In another interview Lois Lowry, readers asked,
GR: Who do they usually ask about?
LL: Most readers in the early days would ask about Jonas [the protagonist of The Giver]. By the time I wrote a couple more books [2000's Gathering Blueand 2004's Messenger], it was clear where he was. But I had not dealt with the baby, and I had not realized that kids would be so attached to a toddler. I started [writing Son] with him as an adolescent, but I found my own attention diverted by who had given birth to him. What turns out to be the final third of the book, when he began questioning about his own mother, started out as the beginning of the book.
