What happened at the end of The Giver?

Question

At the end of *The Giver*, Jonas and Gabe head down through the snow to a place where there is music. >Downward, downward, faster and faster. Suddenly he was aware with certainty and joy that below, ahead, they were waiting for him; and they were waiting, too, for the baby. For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing. Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.This ending is kind of confusing. What happened? Did he travel back in time, as implied by the line 'of space and time'? Where did they end up?**Where did they go and how did they get there?**

Answer 1

Lowry was intentionally ambiguous with the ending of The Giver. It's meant to be confusing and entirely subjective to the reader to what you think happens to Jonas and the baby. Did Jonas die in the freezing snow? Did they make it to Elsewhere? There's evidence to support either claim due to its ambiguity, so it's a matter of opinion. Of course, Lois Lowry did write subsequent companion books to The Giver, one of which reveals Jonas's and Gabriel's fate years later, but since it isn't mentioned in the first book, then go with what you think sounds like the most plausible ending.