Who dies in The Giver?

The confirmed deaths in the novel include the smaller newborn twin Jonas’s father kills, Rosemary, Caleb, Roberto, Larissa, and other people who are "released" (euthanized). Jonas and Gabriel also may or may not die at the end of the novel—their fate is deliberately uncertain.

The most shocking death Jonas witnesses is that of the infant twin. Jonas watches his father weigh the two babies, inject the smaller one in the forehead, and dispose of the body. Jonas realizes, “He killed it! My father killed it!” This moment teaches him that release means death, rather than being sent to a pleasant Elsewhere.

Rosemary also dies by release. She was The Giver’s previous trainee and later revealed to be his daughter. After receiving memories of loneliness, loss, and fear, she asks for release and takes her own life by injecting herself with the needle. Her death is especially important because her memories return to the community, causing chaos and leaving The Giver grief-stricken.

Caleb, a four-year-old child, dies before the main action of the book when he falls into the river and drowns. Roberto, an old man at the House of the Old, is released after a ceremony celebrating his life, which means he is killed too. Larissa, the old woman Jonas bathes, is also later released.

Finally, Jonas and Gabriel may die at the end, but The Giver never confirms this. They are cold, starving, and exhausted when Jonas sees a sled and colored lights and hears music. The ending can mean they reach a real Elsewhere, or that they are dying and imagining comfort. This uncertainty fits the book’s larger tension between safety at the expense of feeling versus freedom and love with the risk of danger.