Never let me go

Kazuo Ishiguro

-born 8 November 1954 -is a Nobel Prize-winning British novelist, screenwriter, and short-story writer. -He was born in Nagasaki, Japan; his family moved to the UK in 1960 when he was five Ishiguro graduated from the University of Kent with a bachelor's degree - considered one of the most celebrated contemporary fiction authors in the English-speaking world, having received four Man Booker Prize nominations, and having won the award in 1989, for his novel The Remains of the Day. -Ishiguro's 2005 novel, Never Let Me Go, was named by Time as the best novel of the year, and was included in the magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels published between 1923 and 2005. -In 2017, the Swedish Academy awarded Ishiguro the Nobel Prize in Literature, describing him in its citation as a writer "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world".[2] Ishiguro was knighted in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours List

Ruth

A female donor from Hailsham, described by Kathy as bossy. At the start of the novel, she is an extrovert with strong opinions and appears to be the center of social activity in her cohort; however, she is not as confident as the narrator initially perceived. She had hope for her future, but her hopes are crushed as she realises that she was born to be a donor and has no other future. At the Cottages, Ruth undergoes a transformation to become a more aware, thoughtful person who thinks about things in depth. She is constantly trying to fit in and be mature, repudiating things from her past if she perceives those things will negatively affect her image. She threw away her entire collection of art by fellow students, once her prized possessions, because she sensed that the older kids at The Cottages looked down on it. She becomes an adult who is deeply unhappy and regretful. Ruth eventually gives up on all of her hopes and dreams, and tries to help Kathy and Tommy have a better life.

Tommy

A male donor, and a friend of Kathy's. He is introduced as an uncreative and isolated young boy at Hailsham. He has a bad temper and is the object of many tricks played on him by the other children because of his short temper. Initially, he reacts by having bad temper tantrums, until Miss Lucy, a Hailsham guardian, tells him something that, for the short term, positively changes his life: it is okay if he's not creative. He feels great relief. Years later, Miss Lucy tells him that she shouldn't have said what she did, and Tommy goes through another transformation. Once again upset by his lack of artistic skills, he becomes a quiet and sad teenager. As he matures, Tommy becomes a young man who is generally calm and thoughtful.

Miss Lucy

A teacher at Hailsham that the children feel comfortable with. She is one of the younger teachers at Hailsham, and tells the students very frankly that they exist only for organ donation. She feels a lot of stress while at Hailsham and is fired for what she tells the students.

Madame (Marie-Claude)

A woman who visits Hailsham to pick up the children's artwork. Described as a mystery by the students at Hailsham. She acts professional and stern, and a young Kathy describes her as distant and forbidding. When the children decide to play a prank on her and swarm around her to see what she will do, they are shocked to discover that she seems disgusted by them. In a different circumstance, she silently watches Kathy dance to a song called "Never Let Me Go" and weeps at the sight. The two do not talk about it until years later; while Kathy interpreted the song's meaning as a woman who cannot have a baby, Madame wept at the thought of clones not being permitted to live long, happy and healthy lives as humans do.

identity

Ah, the dreaded question: who am I? We've all stared this one down in the wee small hours of the morning. But Kathy and her friends have another question to answer as well: what am I? Understanding what it means to be a clone is a big part of Kathy figuring out who she is. She needs to decide if her identity is connected with the person she was modeled from, or if that doesn't matter at all. Kathy spends a great deal of Never Let Me Go mulling over who she is and how she relates to normal humans. In the end, you'll have to decide if you think Kathy finds her identity or not.

The Relentless Passage of Time and the Inevitability of Loss

Although she is only thirty-one at the start of the novel, Kathy has almost reached the end of her life. She has lost almost everyone she knew from Hailsham, holding onto them only in her memories. While Kathy's retrospective narration shows the inevitability of loss, many of her memories reflect a desire slow the relentless march of time towards these losses. The deferral rumor clearly reflects this desire: in hoping for deferrals from donating organs, the students embody the deeply human wish for more time in the face of death. But even the idea of a deferral reinforces the inevitability of death and loss: a deferral is only a brief extension on life, a temporary hold that puts off the future instead of changing it. This same desire for more time ironically motivates the donation program, which depends on the students' internal organs to extend the lives of people in the outside world.

Chrissie

Another female donor, who is slightly older than the three main characters and was with them at the Cottages. She and her boyfriend, Rodney, were the ones who found Ruth's possible (i.e. the person from whom Ruth might have been cloned), and took Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth to Norfolk. She completes (i.e. dies because of her organ donations) before the book ends.

Rodney

Chrissie's boyfriend, he was the one who originally saw Ruth's possible. He and Chrissie are mentioned to have broken up before she completed

Dreams, Hopes, and Plans

Dreams can be dangerous. In Never Let Me Go, Kathy and her friends have shorter life spans than regular humans, so they have less time to accomplish their goals. Plus, their futures have already been planned out: they are all going to become carers, then donors, then complete. Yep, plenty depressing, to be sure. This doesn't leave much wiggle room to pursue dream jobs or go off on fantasy adventures. But all the same, no one can stop Kathy and her friends from having goals. They can daydream all they want. And if they plan it out right, they might be able to accomplish some of these dreams despite their gruesome fate.

Miss Emily

Headmistress of Hailsham. Can be very sharp, according to Kathy. The children thought she had an extra sense in that allowed her to know where a child was if he or she was hiding.

MEMORY AND THE PAST

If one thing is clear in Never Let Me Go, it's that Kathy is obsessed with the past: with Hailsham, her erstwhile friends, her old cassette tape, all of it. In fact, she's so into her past experiences that she barely tells us anything about her present life. Instead, almost the entire novel is a series of flashbacks. But why is it so important for Kathy to look back over her life? Well, for one thing, all of her old friends are gone, so they exist only in her memory. Looking backwards is one way Kathy can cope with all the things she's lost over the years.

ART AND CULTURE

In Never Let Me Go, the equation goes like this: being creative = being human. You can't have one without the other. It might sound harsh, but not everyone believes that clones like Kathy count as "human." So Miss Emily and Madame use art to prove that Hailsham students have souls just like the rest of us. This means that it's super important for the students at Hailsham to produce good artwork. Even though they don't know it, their status as "human" is at stake with each poem they write and painting they create. Sheesh, talk about pressure.

Kathy

Kathy - The protagonist and narrator of the novel. A clone raised to be a donor whose organs will later be harvested until she dies. During her childhood, Kathy is free-spirited, kind, loving, and stands up for what is right. At the end of the novel, Kathy is a young woman who doesn't show much emotion when looking back on her past. As an adult, she criticises people less and is accepting of the lives of her friends.

Characters

Kathy - The protagonist and the narrator of the novel. Kathy H. is a thirty-one-year-old carer who wants to make sense of her memories before becoming a donor at the end of the year. Her recollections express her nostalgic longing for the past, as well as her fierce desire to hold onto the memory of her childhood friends Ruth and Tommy. Kathy tends to restrain her emotions, often expressing her feelings only indirectly. She frequently assumes the role of quiet observer, contrasting with Ruth's more fiery personality. Kathy is also an unreliable narrator, and her memories are marked by omissions as well as subjective opinions. Ruth - Kathy's childhood friend and a fellow student at Hailsham. Ruth grows up with Kathy at Hailsham, where Ruth's charismatic and temperamental personality makes her the natural leader in their friend group. Ruth is eager to stand out from her peers, and often pretends to have special knowledge and privileges that other students do not. Ruth is a foil to the more reserved Kathy, with whom she frequently quarrels. Ruth's relationship with Tommy contributes to this tension, as Kathy quietly harbors her own romantic feelings for Tommy. Although manipulative and cruel at times, Ruth also has moments of genuine thoughtfulness and caring towards her friends. Read an IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF RUTH. Tommy - Kathy's childhood friend, also a student at Hailsham. As a child, Tommy struggles with "being creative" and is teased for his lack of artistic abilities. He develops a violent temper, which he later learns to control. Tommy desires to understand the mysterious aspects of life at Hailsham. Committed to finding out the truth, he bonds with Kathy through theorizing about why the school places so much importance on creativity. Tommy has a frank and straightforward attitude, which contrasts with Kathy's emotional restraint. Miss Lucy - One of the guardians at Hailsham. Miss Lucy has a brisk but sympathetic attitude, and works mostly with the older students. She is conflicted about her role at Hailsham, where she believes that the guardians are not explicit enough with the students about their futures. Her frustration often results in odd behavior, including visible flashes of anger. Miss Emily - The head guardian at Hailsham. Miss Emily is older than the other guardians, and the students generally find her intimidating. However, they respect her decisions and her presence at Hailsham makes them feel safe. Miss Emily has a stern demeanor and a sharp intellect, although she lapses at times into a dream-like daze. When Tommy and Kathy encounter her again as adults, Miss Emily is self-satisfied and complacent about her failed charitable work on behalf of the students. Miss Geraldine - A kind and sympathetic guardian at Hailsham. Miss Geraldine works primarily with the younger students. The students adore her, and Ruth in particular wants her favor. Miss Geraldine teaches art classes, and inadvertently encourages the other students to tease Tommy when she praises his childish watercolor. Madame (Marie-Claude) - A Hailsham benefactor. Madame occasionally visits Hailsham to take away the best student artwork, which she is rumored to place in a personal gallery. Her attitude to the students is distant and cold, leading them to believe that she is afraid of them. Chrissie - A veteran student who lives at the Cottages, and Rodney's girlfriend. Chrissie did not attend Hailsham, and seems to be in awe of the Hailsham students. She is kind and welcoming when they arrive, but Kathy correctly suspects that that she has a hidden motive. Chrissie hopefully clings to the possibility of a deferral on donations, rumored to be available to Hailsham couples in love. She forms a natural alliance with Ruth, who also bases her hopefulness about the future on rumor and speculation. Chrissie later "completes" on her second donation. Rodney - Another veteran who lives at the Cottages, and Chrissie's boyfriend. Friendly and easy-going, Rodney wears his hair in a long ponytail and likes to talk about reincarnation. Although Kathy finds Rodney likeable, she also senses that he is generally under Chrissie's influence. Rodney did not attend Hailsham. Together with Chrissie, he turns to the Hailsham students for help in pursuing a "deferral" on their donations.

The Power of Memory

Kathy copes with the losses in her life by turning to memories of the past. She preserves the memory of Hailsham long after it has closed, just as she preserves her memories of Tommy and Ruth long after their deaths. The novel's title epitomizes this desire to hold on. The phrase "never let me go" is somewhere between a plea and a demand, reflecting a deeply human need to hold onto, and be held by, loved ones. Kathy's memories are her way of holding onto everyone and everything she has lost. However, Kathy's memory is also fragmented and somewhat incomplete. Her narrative is a process of recovery and an attempt to make sense of her memories. She admits to forgetting and misremembering details, showing that memory is just as fragile as it is powerful. Her first-person narration also highlights the absence of other characters' memories. Ruth and Tommy only appear as reflected through Kathy's memory, which means that their own thoughts and motivations remain somewhat ambiguous.

The Dignity of Human Life

Kathy's narrative is ultimately a testament to the dignity and humanity of the students whom she remembers. The students have less time than their counterparts in the outside world, but their lives are as rich with the hopes, joys, disappointments, and sorrows that define human experience. Kathy's memories also ironize the efforts of Miss Emily and Madame to demonstrate the students' humanity through their childhood artwork. Despite their good intentions, both Miss Emily and Madame feel revulsion towards the students whose lives they seek to improve. Kathy, meanwhile, shares the memories of her loved ones with quiet dignity and tenderness. Her narrative speaks for itself, showing the depths of her humanity in ways that Madame and Miss Emily are not capable of doing.

Plot

Never Let Me Go takes place in a dystopian version of late 1990s England, where the lives of ordinary citizens are prolonged through a state-sanctioned program of human cloning. The clones, referred to as students, grow up in special institutions away from the outside world. As young adults, they begin to donate their vital organs. All "donors" receive care from designated "carers," clones who have not yet begun the donation process. The clones continue to donate organs until they "complete," which is a euphemism for death after the donation of three or four organs. However, this premise is not immediately apparent to the reader. At the start of the novel, narrator Kathy H. merely introduces herself as a thirty-one-year-old carer. She has been a carer for nearly twelve years, but will leave her role in a few months. Kathy explains that she wants to revisit her memories of Tommy and Ruth, two friends who grew up with her at the Hailsham school. Kathy does not explain the donation program, or mention that Hailsham students are clones. Although Kathy's narration is often nonlinear, the novel's three parts roughly align with three stages in her life. In Part One, Kathy remembers her childhood at Hailsham. She describes her friendship with Ruth, whose temperamental personality contrasts with her own quiet demeanor. At Hailsham, Ruth often annoys Kathy by pretending to have special knowledge and privileges. Kathy also describes Tommy, a student known for throwing violent temper tantrums. Tommy is initially an outcast among his peers because he lacks artistic ability, which the Hailsham staff (part teacher, part parent figures known as "guardians"), and its students value highly. Kathy sympathizes with Tommy, and tries to calm him down during one of his tantrums. Tommy later learns to control his temper after a guardian named Miss Lucy assures him that it is not necessary for him to be creative. Although the students learn vaguely about the donation program, their guardians shield them from a full understanding of their future. Miss Lucy disagrees with this indirect approach, and often exhibits strange behavior in front of the students as a result, in one instance telling them explicitly about their futures. After Miss Lucy speaks with Tommy about his artwork, he and Kathy theorize that creativity may be connected to donations. They speculate about Madame, a woman who visits Hailsham to collect the best student artwork. Madame is rumored to keep this art in a personal gallery. Kathy later encounters Madame in the girls' dormitory, while Kathy dances to the song "Never Let Me Go." The song is Kathy's favorite track on Songs After Dark, a Judy Bridgewater album that is one of her most prized possessions. When the song ends, Kathy sees Madame crying in the doorway. Shortly afterwards, Kathy loses her tape. Tommy's temper returns during their last summer at Hailsham. Kathy thinks he is upset about his recent breakup with Ruth, whom he has dated for six months. But Tommy is upset about Miss Lucy, who recently told him that she was wrong to dismiss the importance of creativity. Miss Lucy departs Hailsham abruptly, and Tommy mends his relationship with Ruth. In Part Two, Kathy moves with Ruth and Tommy to a transitional housing facility known as the Cottages. They adjust to their new lives, becoming acquainted with the "veteran" students living there already. Ruth often ignores Tommy and Kathy in her efforts to blend in with the veterans, who are not from Hailsham. Kathy notices that the veterans regard the Hailsham students with awe. One couple, Chrissie and Rodney, are especially interested in Hailsham. They convince Ruth to go with them to Norfolk, where Rodney claims to have seen Ruth's "possible" in an open-plan office (a "possible" is a human that resembles a specific clone and from whom that clone's DNA may have been copied). Kathy is skeptical of Rodney's story, especially since it features Ruth's "dream future" of working in an open-plan office. In the end, Kathy, Tommy, Ruth, Rodney, and Chrissie all drive to Norfolk. In Norfolk, Chrissie and Rodney ask about a rumored exception allowing Hailsham couples in love to defer their donations. Ruth pretends to know something about deferrals, which surprises Kathy and Tommy. The students eventually find the open-plan office. Rodney points to a woman in the window, and they all agree that she could be Ruth's legitimate possible. They follow her to an art gallery, where they realize that the woman does not actually resemble Ruth. In her disappointment, Ruth says that the students are modeled only on "trash." Ruth goes off with Chrissie and Rodney. Meanwhile, Tommy and Kathy find a copy of Kathy's lost tape in a secondhand store. Tommy tells Kathy that he has begun drawing pictures of imaginary animals. He thinks Madame uses the students' artwork to determine if couples applying for deferrals are truly in love. After Norfolk, Ruth stops talking about her dream future. Tommy shows his drawings to Kathy, who finds them puzzling but captivating. Meanwhile, Kathy's friendship with Ruth grows increasingly tense. Ruth reveals that she knows Kathy likes Tommy, but says that Tommy will never return Kathy's feelings. Shortly afterwards, Kathy submits her application for carer training and departs. Part Three focuses on Kathy's time as carer. While Kathy is good at her job, the work is both difficult and lonely. She unexpectedly runs into a Hailsham friend named Laura, who is also a carer. They talk about Ruth, who had a bad first donation. They also talk about Hailsham, which has closed. Kathy becomes Ruth's carer, but their relationship is strained and guarded. One day, Ruth expresses a desire to visit a beached fishing boat near Tommy's recovery center. They pick up Tommy on the way to the boat, which they find bleached and crumbling in a marsh. The marsh reminds both Tommy and Ruth of Hailsham. They also discuss Chrissie, who completed on her second donation. On the return trip, Ruth apologizes for keeping Tommy and Kathy apart. She encourages them to pursue a deferral, revealing that she has discovered Madame's home address. In the weeks that follow, Kathy and Ruth reminisce peacefully about Hailsham and the Cottages. Ruth also encourages Kathy to become Tommy's carer. Ruth completes after her second donation. Tommy gives his third donation, and Kathy becomes his carer. They spend their days reading and talking at his recovery center. Eventually, they also begin to have sex. Hoping to pursue a deferral, they go to visit Madame at the address Ruth provided. Madame invites them inside and listens to their request, after which Miss Emily appears from the next room. Miss Emily says that deferrals do not exist. She explains that Hailsham was part of a progressive movement committed to raising clones more humanely. Madame used to exhibit the students' artwork to show the outside world that clones had souls. Although the movement once had many supporters, changing public opinion eventually forced Hailsham to close. On the drive back to his recovery center, Tommy asks Kathy to pull over. He walks into the woods and begins screaming. Kathy goes to Tommy and holds him. Soon after, Tommy gives his fourth donation and completes. Kathy drives to a field in Norfolk, where she allows herself to imagine Tommy on the horizon. Then she drives away.

Style

Pretty normal, little bit different talk then now but not that much, since it's written now in the 21's century and it happened in the 20's century

Freedom and Confinement

Some gates are designed to keep people in; others are designed to keep people out. In Never Let Me Go, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. Fences pop up all over the novel, but it's not always clear if these gates (a) protect the clones from the outside world (b) keep the clones from leaving, or (c) all the above. When they're younger, Kathy and her friends can't leave Hailsham's safe bubble world. So there the gates go with option C. Yet as they get older, Kathy and her chums gain more freedom. They can drive, take road trips, and have mini-adventures. But even with the extra freedom, Kathy and her friends learn that sometimes there are barriers that you just can't see.

Friendship

The friendships in Never Let Me Go sure are complicated, but they're also very realistic. In the novel, just like in real life, friends fight, make up, have misunderstandings, support one another, and accidentally or purposefully hurt each other's feelings. When she's younger, all these little tiffs get to Kathy. But as an adult Kathy looks past all that stuff. Her flashbacks about Ruth and Tommy show us the ups and downs of friendship, but they also remind us just how enduring friendships can be.

Narrator

Unreliable narrator: It is a character who tells the reader a story that cannot be taken at face value. This may be because the point of view character is insane, lying, deluded or for any number of other reasons.

passivity

Were you as bummed as we were that Kathy and her friends never even thought about escaping? But, alas, the clone rebellion never happens. Instead, Kathy and her friends submit to their fate without much hullabaloo. In some ways, the clones are pretty passive characters. They never really fight against the system or try to find a job that, you know, doesn't involve giving away vital organs. While this might seem sad and frustrating, Never Let Me Go also connects submission with fulfillment and even happiness. Kathy and her friends take pleasure out of doing their job (a.k.a. donating body parts) well. They know they are going to "complete" one day, and they are okay with that. Because frankly, everyone completes, sooner or later.

Lies and Deceit

You know how sometimes your parents or teachers lie to you to shield you from something they don't think you're ready to know? Remember how much you hated that as a kid? There's a mighty fine line between lying to someone and protecting them and Never Let Me Go plays with that line. This novel gives us two options: Team Miss Emily or Team Miss Lucy. You might agree with Miss Emily that ignorance is bliss. Or you might agree with Miss Lucy that it's better for the Hailsham students to know their fate. So which team are you on?

Possible

a "possible" is a human that resembles a specific clone and from whom that clone's DNA may have been copied