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.
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