Smoke Screen in "Never Let Me Go"

Throughout Never Let Me Go, the idea of hope has an extremely prevalent place among the underlying themes. As readers, we are left in the dark on key subjects and tend to find them out as the characters find out for themselves.  Ishiguro does a masterful job concealing the truth, from both the characters within the novel and the readers. This illusion serves as a smoke screen, one that Ruth, Kathy, and Tommy continuously attempt to see through.  This can be seen through numerous examples from Ruth believing she may have found her 'possible' to Kathy and Tommy having hopes that they can be given a deferral.

As Ruth is closing in on her 'possible' the tension can be felt in the air.  She is excited to see if it really may be her 'possible' and the one from whom she was cloned. Yet after all the searching and all of the detective-type work, "the woman was too close... and the more we heard her and looked at her, the less she seemed like Ruth" (Ishiguro 163).  All the way up until they were literally face to face with the 'possible' there was hope. But, when they reached her, it all came crashing down.  The smoke screen was exposed, just as all other moments of hope the three face.

Lastly, comes the deferral possibility.  Hailsham students were led on to believe from others that they may have a chance at a deferral if they were truly in love.  Kathy and Tommy see this as a possible way out; Tommy even theorizes that the artwork for the Gallery is how they tell who's truly in love because "they need something to go on" (Ishiguro 175).  Sadly, this dream is only that, a dream.  All outlets for hope quickly close as they get nearer and nearer to the truth.

Analogies to Racism in Never Let Me Go

               Race is not significant in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go.  We don’t know the races of the main characters and side characters alike, with the only clue we can go on would be the cover of the book, which I assume is Kathy.  Instead, the only perceivable difference between people in the dystopian society of Never Let Me Go is that of clone and human.  So what are the differences between clones and humans?  They have emotions, desires, and relationships just like humans do.  Biologically, their organs are similar enough to be used in transplants.  They would even have the same lifespans (I would assume from their similar rate of aging) if it wasn’t for organ donations.  The guardian, Miss Emily, even affirms this saying that Hailsham “demonstrated to the world that if students were reared in humane, cultivated environments, it was possible for them to grow up as sensitive and intelligent as any ordinary human being” (Ishiguro 261).  The only differences between clones and humans are those imposed by society or humans, much like racism in the real world.  In this post, I wanted to highlight some analogies I found throughout the novel.

               Firstly, I wanted to discuss how even as children the clones are kept subordinate through normalization of donations and segregation from society.  One of the points we often discussed in class is how clones completely accept their fate without question.  This comes from a sort of brainwashing that takes place throughout their “education”.  Since the clones are segregated from society as children, their idea of how the world works is entirely molded by their masters, the guardians.  Their reality and purpose as organ donors are introduced to them gradually early in their lives as:

“the guardians had, throughout all our years at Hailsham, timed very carefully and deliberately everything they told us, so that we were too young to understand properly the latest piece of information [. . .] but of course we'd take it in at some level, so that before long all this stuff was there in our heads without us ever having examined it properly” (82).

Clones accept their purpose, and even take a disturbing amount of pride in their abilities and skills as donors and carers such as Tommy saying "’I'm really fit, I know how to look after myself. When it's time for donations, I'll be able to do it really well’" (108) or Kathy bragging on the very first page of the novel about how “[Her] donors have always tended to do much better than expected” (3).  The clones’ blindness towards their own abuse is what allows the structural discrimination to proceed without problems in Never Let Me Go.

               The second analogy I’d like to demonstrate would be the metaphor that the Cottages present.  For students of Hailsham, the Cottages are their first taste of some freedom and independence, which goes a long way to prevent them from realizing their status of second-class citizens.  The parallel being drawn here is to migrant camps in Britain around the same time.  The conditions are similarly subpar, with Kathy remembering “a lot of the time, outside of the summer months, being chilly.  You went around with two, even three jumpers on, and your jeans felt cold and stiff” (117).  They are cut off from the outside world with their only human contact being Keffers, a “grumpy old guy” (116) who didn’t offer much at all.  Though rarely mentioned, the “Culture Briefing” classes reminded me of the citizenship tests required of new immigrants to introduce them to the foreign culture.

               I’m sure there are far more analogies throughout the book that I didn’t mention, and I look forward to hearing what everyone comes up with!

Rose Tinted Glasses

Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go features such bleak themes as conformity, the nature of one's origins, and human mortality. However, though the themes and plot itself are depressing, Kathy's outlook and position on her situation are not bitter, angry, or saddened, in fact she looks back on her life and experiences with nostalgia and fondness, even trying to paint some of the most unpleasant people she encountered in a good light.
One reason Kathy might try to reflect on the positives of the people in her past is that she feels a responsibility to represent them with kindness. The clones in the novel live for only a short time, and get no chance to interact with the outside world, or accomplish any remarkable goal, nor do they probably leave behind any property as most of what they own is either purchased in "Sales" or made by the other children at Hailsham (Ishiguro,16). This is a regard in which Kathy is unique, as the novel itself seems to read as though it is a last will or a final account of Kathy's life which she is recording for the world to find. If this is the case and Kathy is aware of the fact that she is likely going to leave the only record of herself and any of her friend's lives, it seems respectful that she would try to speak of them fondly and respectfully, to paint them in a good light.
Kathy may also be attempting to thank those in her life who helped her to lead as happy a life as possible, namely the guardians at Hailsham. The reader finds out early in the novel that to live at Hailsham is to have a lucky and privileged childhood, and Kathy is trying to express gratitude at having had such a positive upbringing (Ishiguro, 5).
Kathy even talks fondly of the hospital room in which Ruth stays after donating, saying, "the center Ruth was in that time, it's one of my favourites, and I wouldn't mind at all if that's where I ended up" (Ishiguro, 17). Kathy wants to see the world in a good light, wants to make peace with the world, though she's been given a bad lot in life. There's a saying that says one should never go to bed angry, and perhaps that is what Kathy is trying to do, to be happy right up until the very end, with no grudges or bitterness left behind.

Never Let Me Go

              Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro illustrates love and friendship in the face of mortality by examining these themes through the lens of a dystopian society. The narrative can be read as a sort of deathbed memoir, where main character Kathy recounts the events of her short life. Kathy, ever benevolent and forgiving, welcomes “the chance to rest—to stop and think and remember” as death approaches (Ishiguro 37). She does not resent the life she has lived, or rather has not lived, as a Hailsham student, carer, and donor. She looks back on her memories with fondness, as well as with the mature ability to analyze her past and admit to times when she may have been wrong. Kathy is presumably the most admirable character in the novel because, even as she comes to terms with the harsh realities of society both inside and outside of Hailsham, she gracefully accepts and appreciates her lot in life as it is given to her.

              This is not to say that Kathy does not still ask questions – of course she wants to learn more about the world around her, especially the “real” world outside of Hailsham. Growing up, “any place beyond Hailsham was like a fantasy land; we had only the haziest notions of the world outside and about what was and wasn’t possible there” (Ishiguro 66). She also wishes to learn more about herself and about her place in the world. The Hailsham guardians always tell their students just how special they are, yet none of them really seem to know what that means. “We certainly knew—though not in any deep sense—that we were different from our guardians, and also from the normal people outside; we perhaps even knew that a long way down the line there were donations waiting for us. But we didn’t really know what that meant” (Ishiguro 69). Later, it is confirmed that the students are human clones whose sole purpose in life is to donate their vital organs to ordinary citizens, until they “complete,” or die. Knowing, however vaguely, that this is their future and that they only have a limited amount of time together, Kathy and her friends Ruth and Tommy grow very close.

              The three of them are essentially a family during their time at Hailsham, but as life progresses and they move on to the Cottages, their friendship dynamics start to change. Ruth, who craves acceptance and a sense of belonging, starts to branch out and make friends with other non-Hailsham students. She seems more prepared to leave the memory of Hailsham behind and venture into that transitional phase between childhood and adulthood, while Kathy still cherishes her early memories. Ruth also makes obvious efforts to give up her Hailsham habits by imitating the veterans at the Cottages, who actually copy their gestures and mannerisms from what they see on television. This not only puts a strain on Kathy and Ruth’s friendship, but it also reflects how no one at Hailsham or the Cottages really knows what the “real world” is like, since their only models for how to act in the real world come from TV, books, and magazines – mere reflections of reality. Therefore, the students still tend to hold onto each other for the sense of community that Hailsham instilled in them; “maybe, in a way, we didn’t leave it behind nearly as much as we might once have thought. Because somewhere underneath, a part of us stayed like that: fearful of the world around us, and—no matter how much we despised ourselves for it—unable quite to let each other go” (Ishiguro 120).

What Makes Hailsham Special

Raechel Hearth

What Makes Hailsham Special

            Hailsham is always described as a special place in the book, especially in comparison to other facilities in the novel. Eventually, Miss Emily explains to Kathy and Tommy that Hailsham treats its students better than other facilities, “All around the country, at this very moment, there are students being reared in terrible conditions you Hailsham students could hardly imagine” (Ishiguro, 261). The students at other facilities are viewed simply as a means to an end. To most people in the outside world, they are just vessels for the organs that would be harvested later. Miss Emily describes these clones as, “Shadowy objects in test tubes” (261).  People saw these clones as a means to an end, lacking souls, or characteristics found in “real humans.”

            Miss Emily tells Kathy and Tommy that Hailsham wanted the children to create art in order to prove that they had souls. Miss Emil says that at Hailsham, “We demonstrated to the world that if students were reared in humane, cultivated environments, it was possible for them to grow to be as sensitive and intelligent as any ordinary human being” (261). Although despite Hailsham’s efforts, they never able to gain enough support to stop donations. However, Hailsham was able to give its students the best life possible under the current circumstances. As Miss Emily explains:

You see we were able to give you something, something which even now, no one will ever be able to take away from you, and we were able to do that principally by sheltering you. Hailsham wouldn’t have been Hailsham if we hadn’t. Very well, sometimes that meant we kept things from you, lied to you. Yes, in many ways we fooled you… But we sheltered you during those years, and we gave you your childhoods (268).

This is what truly makes Hailsham unique, and what makes it a success.  Miss Emily and Madame may not have been successful in proving to others that their students were human, but they gave their students the opportunity to have as close to a normal life as possible.  Hailsham students were able to make art, build friendships, fall in love, and have enough independence to become their own people.  Kathy never seems to doubt that she is human, capable of all the emotions and empathy of her “real” counterparts.  Kathy reflects upon her life as any person would, remembering the friendships and experiences that shaped her life.  Her ability to do this, and remember her life fondly, shows that Hailsham was a success.

Humane Brainwashing

In Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, I believe the style in which the students of Hailsham are raised is the best option in terms of the theme of humane treatment. In their time at Hailsham, the students know they are different from "normals", being told since they are young that they are clones made to give organ donations once they are older. Yet, in the school, the students are given an education and always encouraged to be creative in artwork and poetry. Thus, the Hailsham students never fully understand the background of their purpose, being "told and not told" (Ishiguro 81). However, I consider this mixture of schooling and sheltering the most humane way to live out their purpose and to also have normal childhoods.

Ultimately, the students are brainwashed, as the guardians foreshadow the clones' futures just a couple years before they can fully understand the meaning, so they know it all along but do not rebel. To them, it is a fact they will live short lives and endure multiple painful operations, but they are never explicitly told that this is different from normal childhoods. The level of which they are sheltered becomes clear when protagonists Kathy and Tommy visit Madame in hopes of a deferral for their love. Upon arrival, their headmistress, Miss Emily, shares that the purpose of Hailsham is to prove "that if students [are] reared in humane, cultivated environments, it [is] possible for them to grow to be as sensitive and intelligent as any ordinary human being" (Ishiguro 261). The education and creativity aspects are to give the students some semblance of a normal childhood and a purpose, rather than the alternatives of locking them in a prison or keeping them in a coma their whole lives. Therefore, the school creators allow the opportunity for their students to reflect back on their childhoods and have happy memories. In addition, they gather the artwork of the students to show the world that the clones do have souls and can be just as different from one another as "normals" can be.

Overall, I deem Hailsham's methods of sheltering and brainwashing the clones into believing their childhoods are normal and valuable to be the best and most humane approach. Doing so allows the guardians to be free of guilt and the souls of the bodies used as organ incubators to live happy lives. Instead of growing up in some of the disastrous conditions hinted at in the novel, Hailsham students can gratefully await their call to duty while reminiscing over fond memories.

The toll of impeding completion

            The relationship between Kathy and Ruth has been at the center of debate over how Never Let Me Go by Kazue Ishiguro depicts friendships during strenuous and trying times. With the looming threat of “completion”, friendships and relationships are constantly being tested. Kathy’s caring, forgiving, and almost naive nature towards others show one side of human nature; the side that would be closest to an optimistic point of view. Her personality and treatment of others is what makes her such a good carer, however, I think Kathy could be considered naive in the sense of her relationship with Ruth. There is no doubt that Ruth has been a support to Kathy and vise versa over the years, yet Ruth has consistently been manipulative and downright evil towards Kathy at times. This is evident when Ruth brings up a bedtime conversation between her and Kathy about Kathy’s relations with some of the veterans at the Cottages. Kathy at first seems to be upset by the betrayal of the unspoken code of their nightly conversations, however, she soon shrugs it off and writes how the event was not something of note. At times, I am finding myself wanting Kathy to stand up for herself in the face of Ruth, just once so Ruth will understand that the way she is behaving is horrific and no way to treat others. Kathy repeatedly stands by Ruth’s side, even when she knows that Ruth will eventually turn on her again.

 On the other hand, the more I think about Ruth and where her feelings are coming from, the more I understand her and her personality. Ruth has always had a manipulative personality, and this is only amplified at the Cottages. During my reading, I was convinced that Ruth had no right to act how she was acting, yet sitting and thinking about her situation, I think that some of Ruth’s outbursts and actions were just in this particular situation. Now that Ruth is at the Cottages, reaching completion is more of a looming threat than a distant thought like it was at Hailsham. Essentially, Ruth has been made to eventually be destroyed. These children are exposed to television and books and Ruth, along with others, have convinced themselves that they have a future beyond completion. However, Ruth is aware that she will have no such future. As a result, I think Ruth copes with this thought through acting out and creating problems for others. If any of us were in Ruth’s position, I do not think that acting out would be such a far-fetched idea. 

Resigning to Fate: Rebelling Against the YA Genre

A discussion was sparked in class about the lack of fleeing from the carer-donor cycle in Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, as Kathy and Tommy resign themselves to their fates after talking to Madame. On the way home they “hardly discussed” that fact that there was no way out of the clone cycle towards death and ignored the fact that they were directly confronted with the reality that they were raised for organ harvest (272). Reading this part and noticing how calm they were about their fate struck me as odd when compared to most other YA fiction novels, as they usually involve the main characters fighting passionately against their fate or government or whatever other opposing force poses an obstacle for them. In most other YA novels, this conflict is the central point of the theme- leading the audience to extract morals like “don’t give up” or “stand up for what’s right” and things of that sort, and Ishiguro’s lack of conflict, on first glance, seems to be teaching wrong morals or simply no morals at all.

However, I would argue that Ishiguro’s overall theme and message are more accessible to his readers than those of other YA books. Most of us don’t have an (extremely) corrupt government that we’re warring with or a faction system that aims to kill those who don’t follow it, but all of us do have to face the concept of our own morality, and Ishiguro’s tale of quietly accepting that with dignity, due to the presence of friends and gratitude for the life we’ve led, is a comforting balm to the fear of death that most people possess. Additionally, I think the lack of deferral makes this story more realistic to the audience- people read YA fiction to access worlds that aren’t our own and read about people doing things that we can only fantasize about doing. Even though Never Let Me Go takes place in a world where clones are real and people are raised to be organ farms, Kathy and Tommy’s quiet acceptance and resignation to their fate is something people can relate to. Fighting against opposing forces isn’t always a viable option and seeing succumbing to one’s fate presented in such a dignified way in a context that typically deifies rebelling places their resignation on the same pedestal as Harry’s sacrifice or Katniss’s revolution, which can make the reader feel better and more validated when it comes to their lack of rebelling in their own life. 

Through Thick and Thin

Ruth is not a great friend to Kathy. Often she's not even a good friend. So why does Kathy continue to talk to her and go out of her way to make Ruth happy on more than one occasion? I found myself asking this a lot while reading this book. I've been in friendships like that before, more recently than I'd like to admit, so for me it wasn't so hard to picture this dynamic.

In class we talked about Ruth's childish behavior, from acting like the veterans in an attempt to fit in to making it seem like Kathy was the jealous and manipulative one. Her behavior is that of someone who has to have control in their situation, or else they don't feel comfortable. As a child, her behavior is excusable to us because she hasn't learned better yet. As an adult, she comes off as a character that mildly disgusts us for not being more mature. But is this entirely Ruth's fault?

The students at Hailsham are incredibly sheltered, Miss Emily even mentions it as a perk of being raised there when Kathy and Tommy speak to her. Ruth's role in her social group has always been the leader, and when the Hailsham students arrive at the Cottages, she's suddenly thrust into a subservient position that she isn't quite equipped to fill. She takes her cues from the veterans, trying desperately to fit in with them while still balancing on the top of the Hailsham pyramid. She copies the veterans' goodbye gestures with Tommy and pretends to forget minute details about Hailsham, which only serve to alienate her from those who were her best friends. Ruth seems immature to the audience because she literally is. She may be equipped to donate all her organs without a second thought, but she isn't at all ready to maintain healthy and equal relationships. Truly, her biggest flaw is that she can't even begin to fathom that.

Despite Ruth's shortcomings in the department of maturity, this scenario reflects a lot on Kathy's character, too. She's definitely written as a pushover for most of her time at Hailsham, only challenging Ruth a few select times (such as the pencil case fiasco). For the most part, she is always looking to fix her and Ruth's relationship when they're at Hailsham, often assuming the blame in order to keep the peace. The trick here, and the reason that Kathy doesn't fully catch on until much later, is that Ruth makes up for her mistakes just enough to win Kathy back without actually apologizing. As far as I can recall, Ruth never verbally and sincerely apologizes to Kathy for anything that happens at Hailsham, or in their years at the cottages. But here and there she'll do something nice for Kathy, like buying her that cassette at a Sale to make up for her lost one, or having late night talks at the Cottages, and Kathy forgives Ruth almost dutifully.

She does this almost out of a twisted sense of loyalty; she and Ruth go through everything together, from protecting Miss Geraldine to Ruth's donations. Before the peak of Ruth's manipulative behavior, they were best friends, and Kathy feels like she's obligated to make sure they stay that way. All of the students know that they are bound by purpose to live short lives, and it seems like Kathy doesn't want to squander hers by pushing away one of the few people that she will ever get to know.

Kathy does eventually learn to stand up to Ruth a bit more, but it's not entirely clear when this change happens. Even towards the end of their years at the Cottages Kathy has a hard time consistently standing up for herself, but when she becomes Ruth's carer it's so much easier for her to say what she's really thinking. Perhaps this development is because she spent several years away from Ruth, and was able to think about the events of the past without any added input from Ruth. At any rate, Kathy and Ruth's friendship was by no means wholesome, but it was necessary for them to make it through their time at Hailsham and become the people they were at the very end.