Never Let Me Go Section 4: Madame and Miss Emily

                The characters of Madame and Miss Emily illustrate Kazuo Ishiguro’s utilization of indirect characterization and symbolism in order to enhance the themes of Never Let Me Go. When Kathy and Tommy arrive on Madame’s doorstep to talk to her about applying for a deferral, they unexpectedly enter into a conversation with both Madame and Miss Emily which answers many of their questions about their existence and lifestyle that had bothered them since a young age. Because I had been under the assumption throughout reading the entire novel that Hailsham had been an institution supported by the donation program in order to raise the clones which would one day become their source of vital organs, I was highly surprised to learn of Madame and Miss Emily’s true motivation behind running Hailsham. Miss Emily explains that, at the time Hailsham was founded, most clones were raised in inhumane environments and given no hope at a life deemed worthy of a normal human being; therefore, their entire lives were spent in misery and inferiority until the process of donations began for them and they reached completion. Miss Emily and Madame found this practice to be highly unjust, and therefore they founded Hailsham as an institution to provide clones with a proper living environment and education in order to give them as normal a life as possible for as long as possible. Furthermore, by educating the children and gathering their work into large collections, Madame and Miss Emily hoped to prove to society that these clones had souls and were humans just like them. Therefore, these two women, who were initially depicted as having little affection for the Hailsham students and were often depicted in an even foreboding light, indirectly characterized themselves through this conversation with Kathy and Tommy as being very admirable, moral women. This indirect characterization is therefore essential to understanding the roles that Madame and Miss Emily played in the novel and ultimately understanding the purpose of the lifestyle that Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth lived at Hailsham.

                In addition to utilizing indirect characterization through the characters of Madame and Miss Emily, Ishiguro also employ symbolism through these two women. Despite the immense measures and countless hours of tireless work which the women gave to provide the clones with a better life, Miss Emily ultimately admits to Kathy and Tommy that both women were always a little repulsed by the very idea of them. Miss Emily admitted this to Kathy and Tommy when stating, “…Marie-Claude is on your side and will always be on your side. Is she afraid of you? We’re all afraid of you. I myself had to fight back my dread of you all almost every day I was at Hailsham. There were times I’d look down at you all from my study window and I’d feel such revulsion…” (Ishiguro, 269). I found this opinion of the women towards the clones to be highly symbolic of social issues in society today. While human cloning for the purpose of organ donations may not exist today, other fairly similar issues do plague society, such as human trafficking and extreme poverty and disease in third-world countries. Although people do see that these injustices are highly immoral, they are also repulsed by some of the poor creatures who are victims to these tragedies, and while some try to help, these injustices have yet to be truly terminated because too many people are repulsed or indifferent. Therefore, I found the fact that the very women who were trying to help the clones were also afraid of them to be symbolic of the way that many social issues in society today are dealt with; thus, the role of both Madame and Miss Emily at the conclusion of this novel due to indirect characterization and symbolism is essential to understand the work’s meaning.

Never Let Me Go Section 4: Significance of Title

                Just as is the case with many novels, plays, and poems, the title of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is incredibly important to understanding the overall meaning of the work. The title Never Let Me Go originates with a song that was very important to Kathy throughout her life. At one of the Sales at Hailsham, Kathy purchased a Judy Bridgewater tape containing the song “Never Let Me Go” and instantly felt a connection to this particular song, listening to it over and over again when she was alone. This Judy Bridgewater tape had further significance in the novel when Tommy bought her a copy of it in Norfolk during their time at the Cottages, and a slight dispute over this tape became the beginning of the unraveling of the friendship between Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy before they left The Cottages for their training. However, the significance of the title Never Let Me Go stems much deeper than reflecting the name of Kathy’s favorite song. In reality, this title reflects one of the central struggles which Kathy deals with in the novel: the balance between knowing what aspects of life to hold on to and which aspects to let go. The most important aspect of Kathy’s life which she fervently “never let go” of was her memories, and I personally believe that this act was vital to her happiness and perseverance in life. Throughout the novel, Kathy made it clear that she made every effort to remember as much as possible about her childhood at Hailsham and adolescent years at The Cottages, as well as her twelve years serving as a carer. In fact, Kathy was unique in this regard, for her other friends and companions seem to treat their memories of Hailsham with much less importance. For example, nearly every veteran at The Cottages opted out of keeping their collections from Hailsham, Laura lost nearly all ties with her Hailsham friends once she began dating a young man from another institution, and Ruth forgot many details about their years at Hailsham. However, no matter how many years passed, Ruth always retained memories of even the minutest details of her childhood and even held on to her collection. I believe the fact that Kathy chose to never let go of these things was essential to her survival because of her solitary lifestyle as a carer. Because of her very nature and lifestyle as a clone, her future as a donor, and especially after the closing of Hailsham and the loss of both Ruth and Tommy, Kathy’s memories were truly all she had left to sustain her. Therefore, determination to hang on to these memories is reflected in the title Never Let Me Go.

                On the other hand, because Kathy had a tendency cling to all the things she loved, she often faced difficulty with letting go of things that were best set free. For example, Tommy was somebody that Kathy eventually learned she had to let go of despite the pain it may have caused her. Although Kathy and Tommy loved each other and served as one another’s support system throughout their lives, the time at which Tommy was to give his fourth donation became the fork in the road of their lives at which Tommy simply needed to go one way while Kathy went another because of the differences in their lifestyles as donors and carers. Tommy best expressed this when saying, “I keep thinking about this river…and these two people in the water, trying to hold onto each other…but in the end it’s just too much…that’s how I think it is with us. It’s a shame, Kath, because we’ve loved each other all our lives. But in the end, we can’t stay together forever” (Ishiguro, 282). Therefore, the title Never Let Me Go is so significant because it reflects Kathy’s inner turmoil as she deals with both guarding her memories so as to feel as though she has not been let go by those who love her while also understanding that, when you truly love someone, the best thing you can do for them is to let them go anyway.

Never Let Me Go Section 4: Theme

                One of the more prominent ideas presented in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go which I ascertained to be one of the themes of the novel was the idea of taking advantage of every moment of one’s time and embracing life regardless of one’s circumstances. Time is clearly a very important aspect of this novel; the ways in which Ishiguro manipulates time through Kathy’s retrospective point of view and the occasional lack of the chronological order of memories greatly enhances the work. Moreover, Kathy’s ability to draw comfort and strength from her memories even when she experiences crushing solitude and a foreboding future further contributes to the importance of time and memory. However, I personally believe that one of the most important contexts in which time is presented in the novel is in the sense that it is a fleeting entity which much be treasured with the utmost value. In other words, in looking back at her life, Kathy laments that there was much potential happiness in her life that she missed out of simply because she felt she was “too late;” she wish she would have used her time differently. This is best illustrated in the example of Kathy and Tommy’s relationship. Although they were best friends and one another’s confidants for their entire lives, they were never romantically involved because of Tommy’s relationship with Ruth. Once Ruth encouraged the two of them to become a couple and apply for a deferral years later, however, they did eventually begin to advance their relationship by having sex and beginning the process of falling in love. While this new relationship did make Kathy happy, she found it next to impossible to experience this happiness without also feeling a twinge of regret and remorse that they had not begun their relationship sooner. Kathy explained, “But something was definitely gone… so that feeling came again, even though I tried to keep it out: that we were doing all of this too late; that there’d once been a time for it, but we’d let that go by…” (Ishiguro, 241-242). This quote therefore calls to mind a major theme of the book: that life is too evanescent to allow it to speed by while remaining passive to new opportunities and possibilities. Furthermore, although one’s circumstances and possibly even their fate often cannot be changed, the way in which one uses his or her own time is entirely under their control, and therefore taking advantage of every moment becomes critical.

                This central theme of using one’s time to the fullest also coincides with the message of the novel of forcing one to face their fears in the hopes of finding contentment. On one hand, Kathy looked back on her relationship with Tommy and felt nothing but regret that they hadn’t explored a romantic relationship sooner; on the other hand, she still faced ominous aspects of her future with fear and a tendency to put off what she did not want to face, such as speaking to Madame about a deferral. However, after Kathy realizes that she wished she would have been unafraid to have fallen in love with Tommy sooner, she realizes that she also must overcome her anxiety of applying for a deferral so that she would not later look back on her passivity in this regard with regret, as well. Through these examples, the important theme of valuing and appreciating one’s time and taking advantage of every opportunity possible becomes clear in Never Let Me Go.

Never Let Me Go Section 4: Dynamic Character

The extent to which Ruth develops into a dynamic character in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is revealed in Section 4. Although Ruth was characterized throughout parts 1 and 2 of the novel as being somewhat of an antihero, she transforms her personality in a number of ways shortly before her “completion” as a donor. Throughout parts 1 and 2, Ruth proves herself to be consistently selfish, controlling, overpowering, and condescending. Her domineering personality could be seen in the way she constantly treated her dearest friends with disrespect and wore an air of superiority around them while simultaneously flattering veterans at The Cottages and attempting to befriend them. Furthermore, she was selfish in her relationship with Tommy, constantly rebuking him for his natural behavior and personality while also having the occasional affair with other young men. Ruth’s tendency to be so critical and manipulative tarnished her relationships with both Kathy and Tommy before they parted from each other to begin their training; however, through spending some time away from Tommy and Kathy and undergoing the pain of donations, Ruth apparently sees the flawed nature of her ways and eventually develops into a much more genuine person, making her a very dynamic character. This dramatic transformation is revealed when Ruth, Tommy, and Kathy take a car trip to see the boat ear the Kingston. To begin with, Ruth passivity when Tommy and Kathy gang up on her reveals that she has become more wary than fiery; she lost her desire to defend herself by criticizing others at all times. Furthermore, her frailty and fear of climbing through the barbed wire fence illustrates how her donations have made her timid as opposed to bold and controlling as she used to be. Most importantly, on the way home from the adventure, when Kathy stops the car so that they can admire a billboard boasting a picture of an office setting, Ruth suddenly admits to Kathy and Tommy that she knew she was wrong and that she regrets her behavior in the past. She asks for their forgiveness although she claims that she does not expect she deserves it from them. The single event which most fully manifests her transformation, however, is the moment in which Ruth admits how selfish she was in keeping Kathy and Tommy from being in a relationship together all those years because she refused to break up with Tommy. In a huge act of selflessness and humility, Ruth says, “…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” (Ishiguro, 232). From this point, Ruth proceeds to suggest that Kathy and Tommy begin a relationship and pour all their time and energy into attempting to get a deferral from Madame. Although the deferrals never existed, the complete conversion which this humble request of Ruth reveals proves that she is truly a dynamic character. Through the process of donations, Ruth changed from a selfish friend who thought of her own needs and desires before those of her friends to a girl who was willing to sacrifice her pride and allow her best friend and ex-boyfriend to fall in love in order to prolong their lives while hers withered away. This utilization of a dynamic character by Ishiguro was a truly important aspect of the novel which greatly contributed to the work’s meaning.

Never Let Me Go Section 2: Narration/Point of View

One of the most intriguing aspects of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is Ishiguro’s choice in having the story told from Kathy’s point of view as she looks back and reflects of the past events of her life. To begin with, the fact that Kathy is recalling all the events of the story while offering slight glimpses at her current circumstances immediately and automatically produces a certain amount of foreshadowing which builds a sense of suspense in the reader. However, beyond this, the unique narration of the novel offers a number of insights into the essence of the story. For example, Kathy commonly uses the phrase, “I don’t know how it was where you were…” which implies a few essential things. First of all, the reader is lead to question who the “you” is which Kathy is addressing. Is the audience of her recollections intended to be one of the patients for which she is caring? Or perhaps she is addressing the community of clones at large? Furthermore, it is important for the reader to note that, by using the phrase, “I don’t know how it was where you were, but at Hailsham…” throughout the novel, Kathy implies that several institutions were in existence which housed and educated clones just like at Hailsham. These further leads the reader to question how many clones were supposedly in existence in the novel, since Kathy has yet to specify any ballpark number of students even at Hailsham alone.

The most important aspect of Kathy’s narration, however, is that is makes the story much more personable. The topic which Ishiguro focused Never Let Me Go on is certainly very controversial: the idea that clones could be made of human beings, raised and educated leading more or less perfectly normal lives, and then slowly murdered via donation of vital organs for the sake of others as though they were not human beings at all. While this idea has never been put into practice in today’s world, something along these lines could in fact be very possible in the near future given today’s incredible medical technology. Had Ishiguro not chosen to tell this story for the point of view of a clone herself, the story could have taken a much more objective approach, and the idea of raising clones for the sake of saving the lives of others may not have been portrayed in such a gruesome light. Rather, objectively speaking, a reader might even find the idea of producing clones in order to harvest their organs for the sake of others to be a good idea. However, the moment that the reader begins to see this idea through the eyes of a clone, the idea immediately transforms into a gruesome, torturous, and unjustifiably horrible act. Hearing Kathy talk about the theory of “possibles” and explain that, “Since each of us was copied at some point from a normal person, there must be, for each of us, somewhere out there, a model getting on with his or her life” (Ishiguro, 139) is almost eerie in nature. The fact that Kathy explains this fact to the reader so matter-of-factly and nonchalantly is almost striking. Having Kathy narrate the story almost forces the reader to picture what their own life would be like if they knew that they had been created as the exact model of another “normal” human being just for the purpose of giving their own organs to help others live. In this context, the idea of cloning becomes absolutely repulsive. Therefore, I believe that Ishiguro intentionally chose to have a character as likeable as Kathy narrate the story as a literary technique to bring attention to one of the overarching themes of the novel, the inhumane way in which many people are already treated in today’s world and the dangers of mistreatment of others in the future.

Never Let Me Go Section 2: Attitude/Perspective

                The fact that the main characters in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go are very unique is very obvious for a number of reasons. For example, the students have been “modeled” after other human beings and raised in a society all their own which is isolated from the rest of the world for the sole purpose of growing up and ultimately dying to donate their vital organs to others; in other words, they are clones raised to be slaughtered for the benefit of the rest of humanity. Despite the many intriguing aspects of these individuals which arise from their incredibly unique existence, the aspect of their personalities which I find to be the most intriguing is their attitude towards their fate. While Miss Lucy was right in her analysis that the students and Hailsham had been “told and not told” (Ishiguro, 82) of their purpose in life, the students certainly did have a reasonably good understanding of their ultimate destinies: to live brief lives which would ultimately result in their own deaths as well as the deaths of their dearest friends all for the sake of donating vital organs to others. Certainly this treatment must have seemed unjustifiably cruel and inexplicably unjust to them; however, the students at Hailsham never seemed to protest their fates. However, when told by Miss Lucy that they would never be able to follow their whimsical dreams of becoming movie stars or celebrities because of their duty in life, they did not protest or even question her; rather, they simply accepted this unfair reality as truth. Furthermore, if a topic was introduced for discussion that made the students consider their futures, they would often opt to leave the matter alone than express their feelings or curiosities. For example, the students at Hailsham had a mutual understanding that nobody would ever ask the guardians about their inability to have babies, the idea of discovering their “possibles” one day, or why Madame took so much interest into creating a gallery out of their artwork. Rather than gain a better understanding as to why they were so different from the rest of society, the students simply seemed to contentedly accept their uniqueness and ultimate duties in life. Perhaps this acceptance of their lifestyle originated in their ignorance for any other way of life than that which they learned to live at Hailsham; nevertheless, I found the students’ passivity towards their unjust lifestyles to be incredibly shocking. This was particularly surprising to when Kathy noted that, at The Cottages, “Another thing I noticed… was the big hush that would descend around certain veterans when they went off on “courses”—which even we knew had to do with becoming carers. They could be gone for four or five days, but were hardly mentioned in that time; and when they came back, no one really asked them anything” (Ishiguro, 132). Perhaps this general consensus that delicate topics related to their futures were too overwhelming to discuss was a coping mechanism for the young adults. Regardless, I still find the attitudes of these individuals, or clones, to be surprisingly accepting of their cruel existences. As the novel progresses, I believe it will be interesting to see if Kathy, Ruth, or Tommy decide to challenge their fates and attempt to live a more normal lifestyle or fight for the equality of all clones.

Never Let Me Go Section 2: Symbolism and Irony

In chapter 11 of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, an important discussion takes place between Kathy and Ruth regarding Ruth’s collection from Hailsham which I found to carry a good deal of symbolic meaning and irony that ultimately leads to a greater understanding of some of the themes of the book. In this conversation which takes place at The Cottages, Kathy asks Ruth if she kept any pieces of her collection from Hailsham with her after coming to The Cottages. Ruth responds solemnly by confessing that, while she had initially intended to keep her collection, she gave it to Keffers to dispose of once she realized that none of the other veterans at The Cottages seemed to hold on to any components of their own collections. To begin with, I found Ruth’s act in throwing her collection away to be very ironic. Ruth, Tommy, and Kathy had spent their entire lives up to this point at Hailsham; therefore, all their friends, relationships, memories, possessions, and so forth were directly tied to this one location. Once departing for The Cottages, however, the students’ collections became their only tangible remnants from this past life besides one another. Unfortunately, because Ruth was always very conscientious of impressing the veterans and was preoccupied with making every effort to “fit in” with them, she lost all sense of connection to her collection the moment she realized that no veterans had seemed to keep possession of their own collections. Believing that holding on to her collection would make her appear childish in front of the veterans, Ruth therefore resolved to dispose of her collection by giving it to Keffers to sell. I find this ironic in the sense that Ruth readily sacrificed her only tangible remnant of her past life, where she not only belonged, but thrived and was both well-known and well-liked, in an attempt to belong in her new lifestyle.

In addition to Ruth’s sacrifice of her collection from Hailsham being ironic, I also found this fact to be symbolic of the lifestyles which these young adults were asked to lead. These young individuals have been created, educated, and raised for the sole purpose of being sacrifices for the rest of society. For example, the students were trained in art so that their best work could be sold to Madame and serve as “evidence;” their bodies were created and refined so that they could one day donate vital organs. All their lives, these young adults, who are presumably clones, have been asked to continually make sacrifices for others for nothing in compensation for such generosity. They create beautiful art, yet are asked to give it away; they make friends, and are made to become separated from them after leaving Hailsham and other stages of life; they build lifelong relationships with each other and are then asked to care for one another as they die in the process of donation; they lead lives that are as normal as possible through their young adulthood and are then asked to sacrifice their lives in order to donate vital organs to others. Although Ruth did willingly give away her collection to Keffers, the manner in which she recalls this instance implies that she did not particularly enjoy giving up her possessions. For example, Ruth remarked, “I put them all in a bin bag, but I couldn’t stand the idea of putting them out with the rubbish… I suppose he just took it away and put it in some bin… but at least I didn’t have to know that” (Ishiguro, 131). I find Ruth’s sacrifice of her possessions to be symbolic of all the sacrifices which the students are asked to make in their lives. While the students seemingly accept their designated lifestyles and fates without question, this does not mean that they necessarily enjoy the fact that they are forced to donate their vital organs. Similarly, although Ruth did not particularly want to throw her possessions away, she seemed to feel pressured that making this sacrifice was something she simply must do to coincide with the natural progression of their lives.

Never Let Me Go Section 2: Foreshadowing

In both sections 1 and 2 of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro incorporates a great deal of foreshadowing into the novel so as to advance the plot and elevate the feeling of suspense experienced by the reader. While very few specific details are given, the reader is made to understand that all the students at Hailsham such as Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are not like other members of society. Instead, they have been intentionally “modeled” after another human being for the specific purpose of being raised to one day donate vital organs. After leaving Hailsham, the reader knows that the students will become “carers” and donors, but little other information has been provided at this time as to the details of these jobs, the ultimate purpose of their education at Hailsham, the destinies and fates which they are bound to with such a unique life, etc. Therefore, because Ishiguro has intentionally chosen to exclude some important explanatory text which would clarify many details about Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy’s lives, the foreshadowing which is created by Kathy’s narration of the novel creates a great deal of suspense. For example, the fact that Kathy’s narration reveals the fact that she is currently serving as a carer, whereas Ruth and Tommy have already acted as donors. With this in mind, the reader is left to speculate the ultimate fates of Ruth and Tommy as well as what will happen to Kathy once her term as a carer is completed in the near future. The reader is also left to wonder how exactly the nature of their work has led Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy to become separated from one another. For example, when discussing how Miss Lucy was different from all the other guardians because she seemed to express more concern over the children’s future, Kathy reflects, “It’s even possible I began to realize, right back then, the nature of her worries and frustrations. But that’s probably going too far; chances are, at the time, I noticed all these things without knowing what on earth to make of them” (Ishiguro, 78-79). This clearly leaves the reader in suspense wondering what made Miss Lucy so unique and what insights and connections to her own fate Kathy was able to derive from observing Miss Lucy. Additionally, the sense of foreshadowing which is created by the fact that the story is narrated by Kathy and presented as her personal reflection on the past events of her life creates the suspense in the sense that it encourages the reader to speculate about the conclusion of the novel. I often find myself personally wondering as I progress through the book if the novel will end simply with the revelation of who exactly these special Hailsham students are, why exactly they were brought into the world, and what specifically other “normal” humans intend for their purpose in life to be. On the other hand, I also wonder if these revelations will be disclosed earlier on in the novel and will escalate into one much larger problem which Kathy must solve before the novel’s conclusion. For example, if Kathy has yet to become a donor herself, will she find a way to escape the fate of her friends and pave a new way of life for people like the students at Hailsham? Without the foreshadowing that is produced by Kathy’s narration, these questions may not be nearly as likely to linger in the mind of the reader as the novel progressed. Therefore, this foreshadowing is an essential literary technique used by Ishiguro in Never Let Me Go and greatly contributes to the overall advancement of the plot.