Gabriel Character Analysis in The Giver

The small fretful newchild whom Jonas's father takes home with him in order to help him sleep at night. Gabriel has pale eyes like Jonas and The Giver, which Jonas later learns are the color blue. Jonas discovers he is able to transmit memories to Gabriel, which means that, like Jonas, Gabriel is also capable of great emotional depth. Jonas's desire to save Gabriel from being released spurs Jonas's rebellion against the community.

Gabriel Quotes in The Giver

The The Giver quotes below are all either spoken by Gabriel or refer to Gabriel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Houghton Mifflin edition of The Giver published in 2012.

He wept because he was afraid now that he could not save Gabriel. He no longer cared about himself.

Related Characters: ,

Page Number and Citation: 218

Explanation and Analysis:

Gabriel Character Timeline in The Giver

The timeline below shows where the character Gabriel appears in The Giver. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...about whom he is concerned, because he thought that calling the baby by his name, Gabriel, might help him to thrive. Jonas is surprised his father would break the rules. (full context)

Lily also comments on the newchild's pale eyes, and jokes that maybe Gabriel and Jonas have the same Birthmother. Lily is scolded for her joke, because in the... (full context)

...Assignments for Ones through Eights are given out. Jonas learns that because his father pleaded Gabriel's case to the Committee, Gabriel is allowed one extra year of nurturing to gain weight.... (full context)

Meanwhile, at Jonas's home, Gabriel is growing but is still fretful at night. Jonas's father worries that he may still... (full context)

Jonas, hoping he can somehow help Gabriel avoid release, asks his father if Gabriel can sleep in his room that night. His... (full context)

That night, Jonas gives Gabriel another happy memory to help him sleep and tells the sleeping newchild that he wishes... (full context)

When he gets home, Jonas takes comfort in Gabriel, who has now learned to walk and talk, and can say his own name. (full context)

...that night: at dinner, Jonas's father tells the family that the previous night he brought Gabriel to a Nurturing Center to see how he would sleep, and that Gabriel was unable... (full context)

Jonas refuses to let Gabriel be killed. When everyone is asleep, he takes some leftover food and steals his father's... (full context)

Jonas rides all night, then hides with Gabriel during the day as planes fly overhead searching for them. To make Gabriel sleep, Jonas... (full context)

As Jonas and Gabriel continue to travel, the road they have been following narrows and gets rough. The landscape... (full context)

...knows that if he had stayed he would have been starved of feelings and that Gabriel would have been killed. (full context)

...not as pleasant as it was in his memories. The cold, wet, and hunger make Gabriel cry. Jonas cries too, not because he is afraid he will die, but because if... (full context)

One day, it snows, leaving Jonas and Gabriel cold, hungry, and exhausted. Jonas has just a few memories left from The Giver, but... (full context)

...the top of the hill, Jonas recognizes it. He also sees a sled. Jonas and Gabriel ride the sled downhill. At the bottom of the hill, Jonas sees rooms full of... (full context)