Steve’s answer to “I'm not sure whether or not Jonas dies at the end. What do you think?” > Likes and Comments
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I taught "The Giver" several times with a community-college English as a Second Language reading-writing course. I agreed with Steve Wasling's assessment of the ending, and was surprised when my department head considered it an open-ended conclusion to the story. Yes, I firmly believe she changed her mind in order to write the sequels. I enjoyed them, but they did indeed undermine the power of the first book.
Yes, I had no idea there were sequels. He died or should have. That is what would have been believable.
I didn't think he'd died at the end. Didn't even think that the house was a memory, but, figured it was real? I guess I'm not really good at reading in between the lines.
Well that's the good thing about an ambiguous ending ; different people interpret it in different ways.
I think the book was so filled with foreshadowing that when I read it it seemed pretty clear that the lights he saw at the end were Christmas lights, just like the memory the Giver said was his favorite, and the music he heard was carolers. So I took it as him finding a civilization outside of the Sameness that's like ours. I like to believe he and Gabe were taken in by a family celebrating Christmas.
No, remember, he has a dream one night about being on a sled, and then there's something in front of him he needs to get to, something happy, but he wakes up? It's his own memory. It's a town. If you read the 3rd book this becomes really obvious. (read the 2nd and 4th as well)
Anyway, of course he doesn't DIE!
no he doesn't die, the sequels confirm it and we hadn't even considered their death at the end of book 1, so your answer is plainly wrong.
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Hane
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Sep 14, 2014 06:24AM
I taught "The Giver" several times with a community-college English as a Second Language reading-writing course. I agreed with Steve Wasling's assessment of the ending, and was surprised when my department head considered it an open-ended conclusion to the story. Yes, I firmly believe she changed her mind in order to write the sequels. I enjoyed them, but they did indeed undermine the power of the first book.
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Yes, I had no idea there were sequels. He died or should have. That is what would have been believable.
I didn't think he'd died at the end. Didn't even think that the house was a memory, but, figured it was real? I guess I'm not really good at reading in between the lines.
Well that's the good thing about an ambiguous ending ; different people interpret it in different ways.
I think the book was so filled with foreshadowing that when I read it it seemed pretty clear that the lights he saw at the end were Christmas lights, just like the memory the Giver said was his favorite, and the music he heard was carolers. So I took it as him finding a civilization outside of the Sameness that's like ours. I like to believe he and Gabe were taken in by a family celebrating Christmas.
No, remember, he has a dream one night about being on a sled, and then there's something in front of him he needs to get to, something happy, but he wakes up? It's his own memory. It's a town. If you read the 3rd book this becomes really obvious. (read the 2nd and 4th as well)Anyway, of course he doesn't DIE!
no he doesn't die, the sequels confirm it and we hadn't even considered their death at the end of book 1, so your answer is plainly wrong.
