Response Question #2:

Re: Victoria
I completely agree with Victoria. I think that Jonas and Gabe found another place to live which was probably the house that was playing music from it. When I thought about this house, I remembered the memory that the Giver had given to Jonas of the people around a lighted tree who were opening presents. Then I thought that maybe Jonas and Gabe would live in the house where the music was being played from, be part of their family, and have the same scenario of the people sitting around the tree opening presents. They would love their new parents and their new parents would love them back. Although this wouldn't have all been happy. The other thing that crossed my mind, like Victoria said, that they would die. Then, thinking back to another memory that the Giver gave Jonas about Jonas riding on the sled and how he scraped his face on jagged edges of ice and a great wave of pain then followed seemed to match what the book ended like because in the memory he was riding down a hill on a sled and at the end of the book he was riding on a sled too. In the great deal if pain that Jonas and Gabe were already in they probably wouldn't have survived the fall in the memory. They also could have died because they would have starved, froze because they had already used up all of the warmful memories, or like I said, from the sled.

Re: Victoria and Stephen
Both Victoria and Stephen make very good points. I think that Jonas and Gabe went down the hill and found people singing to welcome them. Then they found a home and had a good life with colors and all the other things that the little town they came from did not have. The whole end of the story could have been a dream. When Jonas fell asleep he could have just never woken up and he was just dreaming the warmth to make him happy when he and Gabe died. I think that they found Elsewhere and it was like today's society. They could have just gone into an orphanage and could have had a bad life there. There are many possibilities. The most likely would probably be that they found a home and family. Something else that I thought of is that in the new town they will not fit in. A lot of the things in the town would be new to the two kids and they would have to be taught what everything is. Some kids in the town might think they are weird and be mean to Jonas and Gabe. Many things could have happened at the end of the story.

RE: Everybody so far...
I loved everybody's comments. I didn't think of the story ending where they died, but now I think that they did die. Jonas must have given up and just fell asleep and while he was falling asleep he imagined the memories that the Giver had given him about love, music, on the sled, and warmth. Those were probably actually good memories to die during. I don't think we will ever know if Jonas found another Community or if he passed away. If he did find another town maybe-as Margaret said- they would think Jonas and Gabe are weird. And maybe if they found another town those people would be complete aliens to them. I think Jonas and Gabe could be aliens because it never said in the book what they looked like. Also, this world could be Earth in the future because the Giver said that one of the memories happened a long time ago. We will never know whether Jonas and Gabe died or possibly came to a new Community.

Re: Stephen
I agree with Stephen because I think Gabe and Jonas found another place to live. Also i think the town was a little like it is today. I think the town was celebrating Christmas and that the memory that the Giver gave to Jonas was the same as the town. It was the memory with the grandparents and candels and the presents. I think Gabe and Jonas found the same house with the grandparents and they were loved and taken into that home. In the beggining when they would first walk into the house they would feel weird because i think the family would think thay are weird but then they would tink it was from the cold so they would bring them in and love them. Also i think that maybe because jonas could only give the messages to Gabe that Gabe when he gets older gives the mesages back to Jonas. Another concern i have is that they might be dead because they ended on the memory were they were sledding down the hill but at the end jonas got hurt. Maybe because they were already starving, hurt and sore the ending might be that they died and went to heaven and was in the memory of warmth and love and happiness.I loved the whole book except for the ending. I think the author just got lazy and did not know how to end it. I do not like makeing up my own endings. In the end we do not know if they found a family or if they died in the search for a family. Many endings could have fit in this ending but we may never know for sure.

Re: Sienna
I thought he hadn't died, that he reached Elsewhere, but now I'm beginning to question it. When he found the sled at the top of the hill, he was weak and tired but hopeful. But, when he got on the sled with Gabe and started to ride downhill, he started to lose consciousness, so the sled ride could have easily faded into his memories as he died. Even though he could have died, I have a small doubt that he actually died. Maybe he actually made it alive to Elsewhere and the Christmas memories came true.
Answering the original question, I think that Jonas and Gabe are in heaven (dead) or they actually found Elsewhere.

I think Gabriel and Jonas stayed together as long as they could because they obviously became attached to each other
and their journey can change anyone. Another reason why I think they stayed together is because after all those miles it takes love
to continue carrying Gabe on. When they finally arrived into the town someone would call CPS (Child Protective Services) and then they
would investigate and get picked up by the agents involved. Then they would become wards of the State/Province/Country, but if Jonas
decided that he won’t leave Gabe, then there is a slimmer chance of them getting fostered/adopted. But, if Jonas lets them take Gabe
away from him then Gabe is more likely to be adopted, because of the young age. Jonas might go in and out of foster care until he became
18 or the legal adult age.

RE: Sarah,Kate,Sienna,Margaret,Stephen,and Victoria

It is a possibility that they did die and were just reliving the memories that The Giver gave Jonas.

I thought the ending was very confusing because of the blackness and then the dreams or Elsewhere, but I think that they were sledding down the hill when they died and reched Elsewhere or heaven.

I think that the end was a little confusing, but I think they died and finally found Elsewhere.

I think that the end was a little confusing, but I think they died and finally found Elsewhere.

RE: Kate
to add to your comment about the author being lazy...
maybe the author did want us to use our own minds and imaginations and come up with what we thought was the right answer.
RE: Ashley
Why do you think that the place (if they did get to a place) was filled with humans and had CPS and investigators? For all we know if they got to a new town they could perhaps be aliens.

I think Jonas and Gabe found another place live because of the music they heard, or they have died because so far there had been nothing and maybe they died remembering their memories.

I think that we will never know if Jonas and Gabe made it to a new community. But, it don't think they died. In the community, most people don't have feelings or memories. Jonas might have thought of his memory from the Giver, that was of Christmas and went back to see if it really existed. I think that they are in a normal town, but not one of the "communities".

I think that there are two things that could have happened. Either they both froze to death while sleeping or found a new community. I think that the author just wanted the readers to try to think about what could have happened.
RE: stephen
If they did live they probably did find a new place to live and then Jonas and Gabe could have had their first christmas.

I found the end very confusing and it was hard to decipher what it mean t. It is possible that Jonas and Gabe made it to another community, but they may have frozen to death. The warmth they felt could have been a sign of hypothermia but it may have been real warmth. The singing was either a dream or people in the community they were trying to reach.

I personally think that Jonas and Gabe made it to a new town, because the author stopped at a point that showed that kind of ending. For those who said the sled and hill were a dream that came from the memories, (and correct me if I'm wrong) the memory said nothing about lights and music. Also, for those who stated it was a dream and the music came from the memories, Jonas didn't receive music. The author never implied that Jonas knew the sound was singing, just that he heard singing for the first time.

Re: Victoria
I agree. They possibly could have died remembering the memories, but I doubt that. I reread that part of the book and I didn't read anything about falling asleep except for the parts when they slept during the day and traveled at night.

I think that Jonas and Gabe froze to death. The sled, lights, and music were his last memories that he shared with Gabe before they both died from hypothermia. The sled, lights, and music were all in his head.
Re: David
I agree with you that the ending was confusing. I think Lois Lowry did this on purpose to make people think.

I think that Jonas and Gabe went to another community because they heard the singing and saw the lights. Jonas took Gabe because otherwise he would have been released. They made it to the sledding hill that Jonas saw in his memories and made it Elsewhere.

I think Jonas and Gabe earthier died or they found another community, because if they died the sled ride could've been a dream and they both died in their sleep, or they rode into the light and froze to death. But if they lived the sled ride could of been real and they found another community.

I think that Jonas and Gabe had died, they had been frozen to death, and they were in the Elsewhere, which was death. Anytime someone talked about elsewhere, there was always a release to go with it. Elsewhere is the place after death in their world. And how could there be an old sled, with no one around it, just sit there like it was waiting for Jonas and Gabe? It was like a paradise, because after the Giver had shown Jonas that memory of the sled ride, he had always wanted to go sledding. It was all in his head, and so were the music and lights. But they had died.

Re: Dustin I think that your statement is incorrect because I don't believe that the whole world is like those cities. I think that Jonas and Gabe found the real World around the winter holidays. If the whole world is like this then where did the memories come from. I defiantly think that they found the real world and they went and were welcomed into the city and were adopted.

I think that Jonas and Gabe went Elsewhere after going on the sled ride and died there after seeing the lights and singing, or they made it elsewhere and stayed there. I also agree with Ashley that someone found out about the community and shut it down because it was a cult. But I also think the singing and lights could have been his memory of the Christmas tree, but at the same time Jonas had never received singing. He could have also been receiving the memory of the singing, which would explain how he knew that it was singing right away,

RE: Victoria. I completely agree with you, except The Giver never passed on memories of music, and there seems to be a couple of holes in the story. I think the idea that Elsewhere is death is perfect, because when they 'get Released Elsewhere' they're killed. And I think the sled was there because he was remembering what the Giver gave to him.

Re: David
I do agree with you, but how could it have been real warmth? They were out in the middle of nowhere, and there were no people around him. I think it was after he and Gabe died, they knew everything, even memories they didn't get.