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.