Never Let Me Go Revision

Andrew Barrow

"He gently hints that we are all, to some extent pawns in someone else's games, our lives set out for us"

John Mullan

"It is made compelling by its characters compliance with their fate"

M John Harrison

"Never Let me go is about the steady erosion of hope"

Ruth

- manipulative -tries to fit in -regretful

Kathy H

-Caring/ empathy -Determined -Accepting

Tom

-struggles with artistic work -struggles to control anger

Artistic Talent- Continued "Jackie's giraffes," Ruth said with a laugh. "They were so beautiful. I used to have one." (Ruth to Kathy)

At Hailsham, the students are taught to have the greatest respect for artistic talent and very often students are remembered because of their creative abilities. Jackie, one of the students from Hailsham, becomes well known for her creation of beautiful giraffes. This allows her to have an identity of her own and it becomes easy to see why her peers would covet something similar. The students do not even have individual surnames, so to be known to others because of a particular talent allows the students the opportunity to experience having their own identity for the first time.

Language of Acceptance

At no point does anything in Kathy's narration indicate that she plans to rebel or that she plans any future for herself other than the one that has already been decided upon, Ishiguro seems to be suggesting that the student clones now belong to their own social class and that as members they have all agreed to accept their futures. The response of the clones is interesting, suggesting that where there is a powerful they, there will always be a less powerful group willing to accept their fate as they feel they have no alternative.

Structure (Reminiscing) "But that's not really what I want to talk to you about just now. What I want to do now is get a few things down about Ruth, about how we met and became friends, about our early days together."

At the opening of the novel Kathy tells us that she is 31 years old but most of her narration involves her memories of the past, when she was a student at Hailsham School or when she was living at The Cottages. Therefore, her narration is not straightforward or chronological, as she tends to jump from recalling one incident to another in a very non-linear way. Often, Kathy begins to recall a certain incident but will get easily tempted into reminiscing about another event, or giving the reader information about other students or guardians. During Chapter Four Kathy begins to tell the reader about the head guardian, Miss Emily. However, she interrupts her recollections with, Kathy has total control over her narrative and the reader has to wait for Kathy to decide when she wants to give further information about Miss Emily before they find out more about the head guardian.

Trio Reunite- Friendship (3) She already had a carer assigned to her at the time, and I remember it taking a bit of nerve on my part. But in the end I managed it, and the instant I saw her again at that recovery centre in Dover, all our differences - while they didn't exactly vanish - seemed not nearly as important as all the other things: like the fact that we'd grown up together at Hailsham, the fact that we knew and remembered things no one else did. (Kathy) Later when Kathy meets Tommy for the first time in many years their closeness is obvious,My heart had done a little leap, because in a single stroke, with that little laugh of agreement, it felt as though Tommy and I had come close together again... (Kathy)

Despite having their differences and not parting on the most amicable of terms, Kathy decides that the right thing to do would be to become Ruth's carer. Her past friendship with Ruth means more to Kathy than any quarrel they may have had in their youth and she does all she can to make sure that she is assigned to Ruth. After a considerable amount of time apart, the friendship between Kathy, Ruth and Tommy is still strong. Ishiguro shows how they remain close because of their shared experiences and because ultimately they were the only ones who really cared for each other. With no actual family to turn to, friendship between the students was of the utmost importance.

Nostalgia (1) "The memories I value most, I don't see them ever fading. I lost Ruth, then I lost Tommy, but I won't lose my memories of them".

During the course of the novel, Kathy spends a great deal of her time reminiscing about the past. She feels nostalgic about the time she spent in Hailsham and, on the whole, has only fond memories of the years she lived there. When she is a carer Kathy gets to speak to many donors and one of them complains to her about their memories fading rather quickly. Kathy however disagrees with this, commenting that. This is the reason why Kathy's memories of the past are so important to her and why the majority of the novel is told in flashback. All Kathy has left are her memories. Looking back with nostalgia to the past is all Kathy can do in order to comfort herself. Everything that has ever meant anything to Kathy now exists entirely in her head; her memories are her only link to the past and are therefore extremely precious to her. It is for this reason that the reader finds out very little about Kathy's present life. Even when she is describing her life as it presently is, she quickly begins recalling the past.

Collections Continued "Looking back now, I can see why the Exchanges became so important to us. For a start, they were our only means, aside from the sales...of building up a collection of personal possessions. If, say, you wanted to decorate the walls around your bed, or wanted something to carry in your bag and place on your desk from room to room, then you could find it at the Exchanges." (Kathy)

Each students' collection is unique and individual to them. The Sales and the Exchanges give the students the opportunity to buy things that they admire and that become important to them. It is the students' attempts to personalise here which reinforces the fact that they are looking for ways to add individuality to their lives. They realise that this will help them to create their own identities. Therefore, creating a personal space around their bed for example, becomes increasingly important to them.

Hailsham Student- Identity (3)

In Hailsham, Kathy, Ruth, Tommy and their peers were used to being treated as special, those clones who did not attend Hailsham see it as a privileged school to have attended. Having to face the reality of the true backgrounds of their possibles is something else which therefore adds to the characters' identity crisis.

Friendship (1)

Ishiguro's presentation of the friendship groups in Never Let Me Go is very realistic. He portrays Ruth as a typical leader, the girl many other students look up to, and Tommy as the student who is often goaded into making a fool of himself for the entertainment of his friends. Ishiguro also shows that as well as having silly quarrels with each other, But the next second Ruth gave a little laugh and said: 'The idiot! (Kathy), the students also care for each other and offer support when it is needed, 'It's nothing to worry about,' I said before the silence got humiliating for him. 'It'll come off. If you can't get it off yourself, then just take it to Miss Jody.' (Kathy to Tommy). In a way, Hailsham is a glue that bonds its students together. Even when they fall out, they will still be tied together because of their shared history, shared experiences, and the fact that they know so much about one another.

Narration (2)

It is also important to look closely at the opening page of the novel. Kathy assumes the reader has a certain amount of prior knowledge about life in the society in which she lives, but of course they do not. This makes the opening quite confusing until certain details become apparent as the novel progresses. For example, the reader is unclear why Kathy does not provide her full surname, what the role of a carer actually entails, Kathy's narration is intriguing, it provides questions but very few answers and therefore the reader is drawn into her narrative in their determination to find out more.

Nostalgia (3) "There have been times over the years when I've tried to leave Hailsham behind; when I've told myself I shouldn't look back so much. But then there came a point when I stopped resisting."

Kathy admits that there have been times when she has wondered if she should try to leave her past behind in order to focus on the present. Kathy finds it comforting to remember the past so she realises there is no point in resisting the urge to be nostalgic about it. Everyone she has ever cared for has died; reminiscing about Tommy and Ruth is the only way to keep them alive in her memory. Also, as a clone, she has a limited future. There is little point in Kathy making plans for a life she will never have. Therefore, the past is a safe haven and something that cannot be taken away from her.

Identity (1)

Kathy and her friends are like many young people in that they are consumed with questions about themselves and their place in the world. However, for Kathy, Tommy and Ruth, this predicament is made much harder because they also have to wonder who they are and who they might have been cloned from. Unlike normal humans they do not know their family history and therefore cannot ever be sure if they have a certain eye colour because one of their parents has the same eye colour, or if they have inherited a talent from another family member. Part of their identity therefore will always remain a mystery to them and this adds to their confusion about who they are and their place in the world.

Colloquial Language

Kathy and her friends use a mixture of formal and informal language and can pick the right occasion to make the right language choices, Don't talk rubbish Tommy. (Kathy to Tommy) Kazuo Ishiguro is making his novel as realistic as possible. Therefore the students know that they must speak in a more formal way when speaking to a guardian but when speaking to their friends, they are informal and relaxed. This allows the reader to see that the clones are exactly the same as humans of the same age. The student clones behave and react in similar ways. Therefore, when society finds it acceptable to use the clones in order to donate their vital organs, the reader can see for themselves what a truly dystopian society this is.

Kathy does not stand up "But I didn't say or do anything. It was partly, I suppose, that I was so floored by the fact that Ruth would come out with such a trick. I remember a huge tiredness coming over me, a kind of lethargy in the face of the tangled mess before me. It was like being given a math problem when your brain's exhausted, and you know there's some far-off solution, but you can't work up the energy even to give it a go. Something in me just gave up." (16.60)

Kathy can also be passive in her friendships. When it comes to fighting with Ruth Kathy doesn't always stand up for herself. At the Cottages, Ruth tells Tommy that Kathy thinks his animal drawings are ridiculous. We know this is a straight-up lie, but Tommy doesn't. And what does Kathy do as this blatant fib takes its ripple effects through the group? Absolutely nothing.

Narration (3)

Kathy is a chatty and open narrator and her engaging style makes it easy for the reader to become absorbed in the novel. She does not clutter her narrative with difficult words, although she does make several literary references to novels she is reading and this helps to reflect the realism of her education at Hailsham, One of the key aspects of Kathy's narration is that it uses the language of acceptance. Neither Kathy nor the other clones ever use words which reflect the fact that they might be tempted to rebel against their future roles as donors. They simply accept the fact that before they are middle-aged they will have completed and that their lives will be over. Their language choices are not those of rebels who are planning a revolution but rather the language choices made by a class of people who have quietly accepted their future fate.

Kathy Determined "It wasn't long after I made my decision, and once I'd made it, I never wavered. I just got up one morning and told Keffers I wanted to start my training to become a carer."

Kathy proves to be single-minded and determined when it comes to making important decisions on important issues. Once she has made up her mind about something, nothing will prevent her from seeing the action through to the end. Kathy's decision to leave the cottages and begin her training as a carer comes partly as a result of her irritation with the way Ruth has been behaving. Kathy's use of the word 'wavered' shows just how determined she is and that she has no intention of changing her mind.

Kathy Chatty Language

Kathy's narration is honest and light which makes her story an absorbing one to read. It also means the reader finds it easy to become involved in Kathy's life, Anyway, I'm not making any big claims for myself, and to care about what happens to her. It might be difficult for some readers to care about the life of a student clone but because Kathy is friendly in the way she narrates her story, the reader feels an immediate connection with her. This allows Kazuo Ishiguro to focus on the immorality of human cloning, as he knows that his readers will care about the heroine of the novel.

Narration "My name is Kathy H. I'm 31 years old".

Never Let Me Go is written in the first person and the story is told entirely from Kathy's point of view. The action and characters are presented entirely as Kathy herself perceives them. The reader therefore only finds out about events if Kathy herself remembers them and is only allowed to view the events from Kathy's point of view. Kathy only informs the reader about the events she wants them to know about, so certain key occurrences may be kept hidden, therefore distorting the reader's knowledge and understanding. This requires the reader to do a certain amount of perceptive thinking of their own. For example, the reader needs to consider if Kathy can be trusted as a narrator. They need to ask themselves if she narrates events as they really happened or if she retells events in such a way that forces the reader to see them how she wants them to be seen. What reasons would she have for not telling the truth about certain events? This is an important question to ask when considering Kathy's role as the narrator.

Collections- Identity 4

One of the reasons why the students at Hailsham treasure their collections so much is that each collection hints at their individuality and therefore their own identity. The wooden chests in which each student stores the items they have purchased at the Sales or picked up at the Exchanges are all individual to them and therefore highlight each student's own particular preferences and choices. They become a motif of identity.

Structure (2)

Part One of the novel mainly involves Kathy's memories of Hailsham, During Part Two of the novel, Kathy's narrative is mainly about her time at The Cottages and other characters are introduced such as the veterans, Chrissie and Rodney. However, the shadow of Hailsham looms large and it is not long before Kathy begins introducing memories of her life at school into her narrative, Her past life at Hailsham consumes her and the structure of the novel reflects this. Kathy never properly moves on from Hailsham, it remains an important part of her life long after she has actually left the school. During Part Three of Never Let Me Go Kathy has left The Cottages in order to become a carer. Although she meets many donors, she still finds it hard to forget Hailsham and her old friends from the school. Eventually she gives in, realising that Ruth and Tommy are the only people she has ever really cared for, There have been times over the years when I've tried to leave Hailsham behind, when I've told myself I shouldn't look back so much. But then there came a point when I just stopped resisting. This results in Kathy becoming Ruth's carer and beginning a relationship with Tommy. When both her friends complete, Kathy is left alone so that the ending of the novel is rather like the beginning, with Kathy contemplating her future as a donor and for a time at least continuing with her role as a carer, I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, to drive off to where I was supposed to be.

That was the worst thing I did,she said again.I'm not even asking you to forgive me about that. God, I've said all this in my head so many times, I can't believe I'm really doing it. It should have been you two. I'm not pretending I didn't always see that. Of course I did, as far back as I can remember. But I kept you apart. I'm not asking you to forgive me for that. That's not what I'm after just now. What I want is for you to put it right. Put right what I messed up for you.

Ruth regrets the way she has previously behaved. She admits to Kathy and Tommy that she purposely tried to keep them apart and even urges them to apply for a deferral in order to secure themselves some future happiness. As she matures, Ruth realises that her dream of working in a glass fronted office was no more than a dream and she accepts that she is unable to escape from the life that has been planned for her as a clone. The fact that Ruth admits to going over what she would actually say to Kathy and Tommy if given the chance shows just how much she has thought about her past actions and therefore how much she regrets them. However, Ruth is not satisfied with forgiveness. The only way she feels her past actions can be really erased is if Kathy and Tommy try to have a future together, however brief it might be.

It's not just me, sweety. Kathy here finds your animals a complete hoot. (Ruth to Tommy)

Ruth tries to manipulate situations so that they have the outcome she wants them to have. She is determined that Tommy will not want to leave her in order to have a relationship with Kathy so she twists and manipulates Kathy's words, making it seem as if Kathy thinks his attempts at drawing are laughable. Tommy's lack of artistic talent is something he has battled with and been embarrassed by throughout his life. Ruth knows therefore that Tommy will be particularly hurt at the thought of Kathy laughing at his attempts to draw. Ruth manipulates the memory of a conversation she had with Kathy. Ruth has been comforting Kathy about Lenny, Kathy's boyfriend, leaving to become a carer. She spots Kathy's Judy Bridgewater tape and Kathy is forced to admit that another copy of the tape had been found whilst she was with Tommy in Norfolk when Ruth had gone with Chrissie and Rodney to visit their friend Martin. Sensing that Kathy feels uncomfortable at having kept the discovery hidden, Ruth swiftly turns the conversation around to Tommy's artwork. Ruth knows Kathy well enough to understand that Kathy will be keen to keep the peace between them. Therefore, when Ruth begins to mock Tommy's drawings Kathy joins in with her laughter instead of admitting how good they are. Ruth stores away this memory until she can use it against Kathy which she does at a later date, humiliating Tommy in the process and ensuring that he is hurt by Kathy's laughter.

Possibles Continued "Ruth was standing just in front of me, so I couldn't see her face, but her whole posture froze up. Then without a word, she turned and pushed past me out of the cottage. I got a glimpse of her face then, and that's when I realized how upset she was". (Kathy)

Ruth tries to remain cool and calm about the chance of finding her possible and suggests that in all likelihood the woman Rodney has spotted in Norfolk is not the person from whom she has been cloned. However, when it seems the planned trip to Norfolk might not take place, Ruth becomes visibly upset. Ruth's reaction to the news that the planned trip to Norfolk might not be happening after all is a firm indication of how important glimpsing her possible has become. She feels, like many of the students do, that if she at least catches sight of the person from whom she has been cloned, she will be able to make a connection with an individual who shares similar features and personality traits. This will then help Ruth to strengthen her links to her own identity and help her to feel unique and different from the other clones.

Possibles - Identity (2) "The way I remember it, sightings of possibles tended to come in batches. Weeks would go by with no one mentioning the subject, then one reported sighting would trigger off a whole spate of them," recalls Kathy.

Sighting of Ruth's possible results in the group of friends taking a trip to Norfolk to see if they too can catch a glimpse of her. The possibles are the only link the clones have with their true identity and so Ruth suffers a huge disappointment when it becomes obvious that she has not been cloned from the woman Rodney believes is her possible, "A bit of fun for you maybe, Tommy," Ruth said coldly, still gazing straight ahead of her. "You wouldn't think so if it was your possible we'd been looking for.' Here Ruth's bitterness reveals how all of her hopes were pinned on discovering the office worker in Norfolk was the woman from whom she had been cloned.

Artistic Talent- Identity (5)

Similarly, each student is encouraged to develop their own artistic talents and these talents also help promote their own unique identities. In her narration Kathy recalls Patricia C who was well known throughout the school for her drawing skills, "Patricia was two years below us but everyone was in awe of her drawing skills, and her stuff was always sought after at the Art Exchanges". Tommy's unhappiness at Hailsham could stem partly from his lack of artistic talent. He is not recognised as being talented and therefore feels he is not recognised as an individual with a unique identity of his own.

Language

The language Kazuo Ishiguro uses in his novel is realistic and reflects the time in which the novel is set (the 1990s). Kathy and her friends speak very much as you would expect young people to speak, although at the same time it is impossible to deny that there is something rather middle class about the language they use and the context of their discussions, After all, Hailsham is perceived as being a rather prestigious school to attend and until the reader knows differently, it could almost be seen as a private boarding school.

How important is the overall structure of this novel?

The structure of this novel is important because it allows the reader to see that Kathy never moves on from her time at Hailsham School. Although she physically leaves the school behind and moves first to The Cottages and then becomes a carer, Kathy remains emotionally tied to Hailsham. Throughout her entire narrative, Kathy's memories of Hailsham School impact upon her present life so that she is unable to live in the present without recalling her past,

Nostalgia (2) Driving around the country now, I still see things that will remind me of Hailsham. I might pass the corner of a misty field or see part of a large house in the distance as I come down the side of a valley...

Throughout Kathy's narration it becomes obvious that whatever she does and wherever she is, aspects of her past are constantly on Kathy's mind. Even when Kathy is driving from one recovery centre to another, she cannot help but recall the past. Here, for example, she tries to find what remains of Hailsham as she journeys through the countryside. It is as if thoughts of her past fill every moment of Kathy's life.

"Then everyone was talking at once, about how Tommy never even tried to be creative, about how he hadn't even put anything in for the Spring Exchange."

Tommy finds all kinds of creative work difficult. This is especially hard on him because as a pupil at Hailsham School, he is expected to perform well in art and craft lessons. Art has a special significance at Hailsham and not just because the pupils are awarded tokens if they produce excellent pieces of work but because Madame takes the best pieces of art away for her gallery. Even though the students do not know the significance of this, they are aware that it is important. This is why Tommy gets so anxious about his lack of artistic talent.

He was just raving, flinging his limbs about, at the sky, at the wind, at the nearest fence post [...] Someone else pointed out how each time he screamed something he'd raise one foot off the ground, pointing it outwards, 'like a dog doing a pee'.

Tommy has difficulty controlling his temper, particularly during his younger years at Hailsham, often succumbing to his rages and having violent temper tantrums. This entertains the other students to the point where they hope Tommy will lose his temper so that they can enjoy watching him shout and lose control. Tommy's lack of control is obvious here and he does not care that some of the other students are watching him. His temper tantrums appear to be a reflection of the frustration he feels at his lack of artistic talent. Later in the novel, when Miss Lucy, one of the guardians, tells him that he should not mind lacking in creativity, he begins to calm down. However, his attitude changes again when Miss Lucy tells him she was wrong to suggest creativity is unimportant and although his temper tantrums do not return, he becomes unhappy and rather introverted as he tries to find his place in the world.

Kathy caring Halisham students- Friendship (2) "... I started seeking out for my donors people from the past, and whenever I could, people from Hailsham".

When Kathy is a carer and begins to be given the option of picking some of her patients, she begins to seek out donors who used to go to Hailsham School. Kathy's use of the word seeking suggests that she actively searches for past students from Hailsham in the hope of being able to care for them. This shows that friendship is of real importance to her and that she has not forgotten the students she was at school with.

Kathy Reminscing "There have been times over the years when I've tried to leave Hailsham behind, when I've told myself I shouldn't look back so much. But then there came a point when I stopped resisting."

When the novel begins Kathy is an adult, looking back at her time spent at Hailsham and the years proceeding. There is a sense that the time she spent there was precious to her as she find it impossible to leave her memories behind.

Form:

Writing Never Let Me Go as a novel gave Kazuo Ishiguro the opportunity to develop his investigation into the important themes that he wished to discuss, such as identity and nostalgia. It also allowed him to look at the moral implications of human cloning and the way society treated the student clones. This meant that Ishiguro could also take his time over the presentation of characters such as Ruth and Tommy, who are quite complex characters.

"I found it at the last Sale. I just thought it's the sort of thing you'd like" - Ruth to Kathy about a tape

here are times when Ruth shows great kindness towards Kathy, such as replacing Kathy's missing Judy Bridgewater tape with one she thinks she will like

Kathy Empathy "I don't claim I've been immune to all of this, but I've learnt to live with it. Some carers, though, their whole attitude lets them down. A lot of them, you can tell, are just going through the motions, waiting for the day they're told they can stop and become donors. It really gets to me too, the way so many of them 'shrink' the moment they step inside a hospital. They don't know what to say to the white coats; they can't make themselves speak up on behalf of their donor."

looking after a patient who has donated is an all too painful reminder of the carer's own future but Kathy is able to push this aside and focus on the needs of the donor. She despises the way some of the carers put their own feelings before those of the donors they have been assigned to. Kathy's caring side is shown because she is able to be more concerned about her patients' needs. Even though her role as a carer is a constant reminder of her own future, she does not hesitate to liaise with the doctors in order to discuss her patient's most recent organ donation and any of the accompanying side effects.

"Anyway, my point is, it wasn't long before Ruth realised the way she'd been carrying on with Tommy was all wrong for the Cottages, and she set about changing how they did things in front of people."

moment Ruth arrives at The Cottages she makes it obvious that she aspires to be like the veterans and is desperate to fit in with them. Ruth watches the actions of the veterans carefully, especially those who are in a relationship and tries to mimic their behaviour with her own. she realises that the couples at The Cottages do not often openly display affection for one another she tries to adopt the same attitude and instead of hugging and kissing Tommy as she would have done at Hailsham, Ruth simply slaps his arm, a gesture used by the veterans. Ruth is also keen to distance herself from anything related to her old school and will often claim to have forgotten events that happened there or conversations and jokes that Kathy can remember quite clearly.

Kathy Acceptance "We hardly discussed our meeting with Miss Emily and Madame on the journey back. Or if we did, we talked only about the less important things, like how much we thought they'd aged, or the stuff in their house."

there is a side to Kathy which is also accepting of her fate. At the end of the novel neither she nor Tommy rebel against the system that means they will complete at a relatively young age. She accepts the fact that the deferral system does not exist and the novel closes with her driving in her car, knowing that before long she too will begin the donation process. Kathy seems full of acceptance at the news. She realises that her fate is sealed. She will soon begin the donation process and Tommy will complete his. No plans are made to rebel against a system that ensures humans are saved at the expense of the clones and both she and Tommy even discuss the furniture in the home of Miss Emily and Madame, as if they do not have more important things to talk about. Kathy's acceptance is perhaps an acknowledgment that she is helpless and that nothing can be done to change her future.