Why is Gabriel in danger of being released?

In The Giver, Gabriel is in danger of being "released" because he does not meet the community’s standards for a healthy, manageable "newchild": he grows too slowly, has trouble sleeping, and remains fretful at night.

Jonas’s father is a Nurturer, so he tries to help Gabriel before the community gives up on him. Early on, he worries that Gabriel is not growing fast enough and asks permission to bring him home at night for extra care. He even breaks small rules for Gabriel’s sake, such as learning his name early, because he thinks being called Gabriel might help the baby thrive. At the Ceremony, Gabriel is granted an extra year of nurturing after Jonas’s father pleads his case, but Jonas’s family must promise not to get attached to him.

Gabriel’s real crisis comes when he is taken back to the Nurturing Center for a trial night and cannot sleep at all. The staff, including Jonas’s father, then vote unanimously that Gabriel should be released the next day. By that point, Jonas knows what release actually means: after watching his father release a smaller twin, he understands that release is killing by injection.

Gabriel is therefore in danger because he fails to fit the community’s demand for order, calm, and usefulness. His vulnerability exposes the cruelty beneath the community’s gentle language and practical rules: a baby who needs extra care becomes disposable in a society built around "Sameness."