Introduction
Never Let Me Go novel highlights the life of a group of clones and their lives when growing up. Kathy, the protagonist, narrates her life in Hailsham, a school of future organ donors. Kathy is now a ‘carer’ but tells her story as a flashback. The memory also speaks of other students’ lives like Tommy, Ruth, Miss Lucy, and Miss Emily, just to mention a few. The story focuses on the lives of Kathy alongside her friends and situations when growing up. The author of the novel demonstrates themes such as coming of age, deception, death, creativity, and art. He uses different tones, languages, symbols, and character development when creating the story. Thus, Ishiguro uses themes to show the life, expectations, and fate of Hailsham students.
Coming of Age and Deception
The maturation of various characters in the novel is achieved differently. The flashback story looks at the lives of the main characters, Kathy, the narrator, Tommy, and Ruth, from a young age to later when they are out of Hailsham. Kathy is characterized by her anxieties, disappointments, and happiness as she later grows close to her friends. Kathy remembers a time when the schoolmates ridiculed Tommy as they watch through the window with Ruth (Ishiguro 9). She indicates that they knew they were doing wrong but continued. “He’s really stupid, playing football in that. It will get ruined, then how is he going to feel?” (Ishiguro 9). Kathy was talking to Ruth as they watch Tommy play football on the field. Kathy remembers Tommy’s naivety as he played football wearing his favorite polo shirt. The way she describes that moment alongside their actions shows that she has matured. Indeed, she barely remembers exactly how the events occurred. Other people matured differently; for example, Ruth grows with her self-absorption, anger, and the desire to appear more informed. However, the desire weakens over time, and her relationship with Kathy grows intimate. Tommy outgrows his temper tantrums, although he remains more naïve compared to Ruth and Kathy. The use of language and speech indicates growth in the actions of the three characters between then and the time of narration. Kathy also uses the tone of uncertainty whereby she barely remembers how things happened.
Deception is shown in the novel, whereby the characters in Hailsham discover that they were not told about their predetermined donation life. Hailsham is used as a symbol of happiness, future, and darkness. At first, the school feels like a paradise and a refuge for the young people (Ishiguro 5). However, as time goes by, Ruth, Tommy, and Kathy learn through Miss Emily that they are just clones waiting to donate organs later. Kathy mentions that their purpose in the school was shallowly explained when they were young (Ishiguro 12). However, they later discover that the school only offered protection because they were valuable items for donor purposes. The setting of the school is also used as a deceptive measure because; the school prepares people for future life, but then there is no future for the characters. They are only to donate their body organs until they cannot, most probably marking the end of their lives.
Death, Creativity, and Art
The theme of death takes the center of the novel as it is a continuous one. The clones are shown to be getting prepared for their death, which in this case is inevitable. The clones are supposed to donate their body organs from time to time, thus nearing their death. Ishiguro uses cloning as a symbol of death to where the fate of the characters belongs (151). He slowly reveals the fate of the characters as the story proceeds. The characters must donate their organs and then “complete,” which means death as their fate. The author relates the process of preparing clones for future donation with human life. Humans live life with troubled situations like those of the characters, but the guaranteed event in their lives is death. “I don’t claim I am immune to all this, but I’ve learned to live with it” (Ishiguro 159). Kathy narrates that she has undergone life frustration as a ‘carer,’ and even if she barely mentions it, it is because she has learned to live with it. Ishiguro used character development to show that human knows their fate is death, but since it is inevitable, they learn how to live along.
Creativity is one of the values in Hailsham School, and anyone without creativity seems less important. Tommy was the less creative amongst the three friends, and as he was confronted one day by Miss Lucy, he was assured that it was not very important to be creative. However, Miss Lucy later changed her remarks and asked Tommy to work on his creativity. “She said that being creative was important in my life” (Ishiguro 26). The reality of Hailsham is that creativity was an important factor when the students are making donations. The facility needed creative donors who were considered to be of high quality (Ishiguro 28). In this course, creativity is a symbol of donors’ quality. The author also applies a hideous tone to conceal what the creativity represents.
The characters in Hailsham expressed their creativity through developing art. The arts are said to have been of huge importance for the “madame” or the leader of the institution. Ishiguro provides that Miss Emily used the art created by the students to show the world that clones were normal humans. The act of expressing feelings and the creativity involved proved that the clones had the same experiences as any other humans. “Your art will reveal your inner selves” (Ishiguro 196). Madame was talking to the three characters after visiting her in her place. As Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy came to learn later, madame used their arts to reveal who they were to the world. Ishiguro employs personification whereby the art represents the personalities of the students of Hailsham. Miss Emily explained to the three characters that she was determined to let the rest of the world in their small world of cloning (Ishiguro 197). Kathy and her friend went far to look for Miss Emily so they could confirm various rumors. Ishiguro used an isolated setting of madame’s location to show that the character was not part of harming the students. Kathy mentions that they left for Littlehampton in the afternoon and arrived just before six o’clock. (Ishiguro 190). Meaning, Miss Emily lived far away from Hailsham and where the three characters lived.
Conclusion
Ishiguro uses various themes to tell the story of the Hailsham cloning facility through Kathy. The character development of this novel is purposeful and intentional. Giving the character a different personality reveals the specification of cloning selection in Hailsham. Themes such as death, deception, and maturity or coming of age are developed alongside literary analysis elements. The author applies creativity as a theme and as a method of expressing her story. Therefore, the analysis of the story becomes apparent and certain for the readers.
Work Cited
Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. Faber & Faber, 2005.