Figurative Language In Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro throughout the novel of “Never Let Me Go” he builds up the words “donor”, “carer”, “complete” and “rubbish”. These four words were brought up early in the novel, instructing the reader to believe that many of the incident through the plot would have a positive tone. These terms in our daily life’s have a different meaning than the way he has decided to use them. He has manipulated the meaning to add a more hopeful tone to the unhuman concept that is involved within his novel. Without the use of these words his text would be depressing. This novel involves a group of students who go from believing that everything is fine and normal to realizing that they were part of an experiment and that they are all clones. They have been

The students learn that everything that they were taught was just a hoax and that they are being stripped of their humanity as they get older.

To introduce the main character, Kathy, Ishiguro begins by allowing her to explain how long she has been a “carer”. A “carer” someone who willingly takes care of someone else in need, whether it’s for personal or monetary reasons. “I mean; don’t you ever get tired of being a carer? All the rest of us, we became donors ages ago. You’ve been doing it for years. Don’t you sometimes wish, Kathy they’d hurry up and send you your notice.” (p.24) Tommy and the other students ask whether she want the guardians, the adults in charge of their wellbeing, to move her into becoming a “donor”. Ishiguro the term “carer” as something that Kathy is being forced to do, something unpleasant and lonely. No one should be forced to take care of

When one thinks of the term “complete” one sees the connotative meaning of accomplishing or achieving a goal. When really all this term is doing is adding a positive aspect to the inhuman acts within his novel. “But is it really that important? Okay, it’s really nice to have a good carer. But in the end, is it really so important? The donors will all donate, just the same, and then they’ll complete.” (p.26) Ishiguro has provided this statement to convey a sense of accomplishment after every donation. When in reality the donor is just ending his/her life with every donation that is given and nothing is really being accomplished. When the text is first read there is a tone of something great happening. He/she is completing the task of donating multiple time. It’s a good thing because just like the term “complete” has a positive connotation, so does the word “donation”. So for someone to complete doing a good deed, it becomes a great accomplishment. These different meanings towards each word adds a layer of mystery towards the novel especially at the beginning when the reader is new to the idea of clones and using the clones for organs and parts, as if they were old cars being taken apart for useful