The ending of The Giver can be interpreted in two different ways. Please give evidence to support each interpretation.

In the book The Giver one can
interpret the ending as Jonas and Gabriel as dying or Jonas and Gabriel as escaping and
beginning to develop their own memories when hey hear music and see
lights.

When they have escaped Gabriel is very cold.  Jonas
wonders if he is still able to give a memory to Gabe.  He wants to give him the warmth
of sunshine.  He forces the last of the warmth into the thin shivering body of
Gabriel. 

"The
memory was agonizingly brief.  He had trudged no more than a few yards through the night
when it was gone and they were cold
again."(177)

In the first
scenario, Jonas tells in the book how he is beginning to lose consciousness.  He forces
his eyes open.  These present the concept that they have died or are
dying.

However, Gabriel continued to stir against him.  He
warmed them briefly again with a little memory of warmth he had left.  He makes it to
the top of the hill and recognizes where he is at.  He finds the sled and they ride it
down the hill.

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"For the first time they heard
singing."(180) 

This supports
that they lived.