How Does Hailsham Use Flashbacks

Unaware of the circumstances predestined for herself and her friends, Kathy spends the first 16 years of her life as a student at the prestigious Hailsham. Growing into her adult life, Kathy discovers her body was cloned to be able to donate her vital organs; faced with the reality of her life, Kathy illustrates her inner struggle with considering Hailsham her home through the use of flashbacks, due to the questionable authenticity of her experiences there and thus, her sense of past and her idea of home, Hailsham, lead to uncertainty about her future and her sense of belonging.
Amidst the student’s hopeful conversations about their futures, Kathy explains a flashback to when Miss Lucy, a new guardian, deliberately revealed the student’s

This indicates how Hailsham has always symbolized home for Kathy and her peers. It is a place where dreams could manifest, yet those dreams were now tainted with the reality of her future. Therefore the previous safeness Hailsham used to bring to her now only reminds her of her inevitable fate. The author included this flashback to contrast how Kathy once viewed Hailsham, a safe and pure place, to how she now views the school, a brief housing complex until she is ready to begin her donations. The invalidity of all Kathy’s experiences at Hailsham, suddenly left her feeling uncertain about her past, therefore directly affecting her future. As Kathy and her peers begin to grow older it becomes evident that they would not be staying at Hailsham forever. Hailsham fades into a short stay at the Cottages, a new housing arrangement designed to give the students more freedom. Although the truth behind

Kathy often searches unintentionally for Hailsham, similarly to how many people revisit their childhood homes or towns. These recurring thoughts and images of Hailsham further define home for Kathy, because Kathy looks for Hailsham it demonstrates how she has came to realization that Hailsham fostered all her experiences that shaped her into the person she is today. Without Hailsham she would not have meet the most influential people within her life. Although Kathy and her peers encountered hardships accepting what their time at Hailsham actually meant, each hardship they endured together. Hailsham was unlike the other institutions at that time, Hailsham was humane, allowing the students to interact with each other and create lasting relationships that would aid them within the unique circumstances surrounding their lives. In order to live a full and successful life with the circumstances predestined for them, friendships became a necessary coping mechanism, Hailsham allowed for communication between people who truly understood each other’s position in life. As a result, the students of Hailsham established their own tight nite community, therefore, together they all belonged to something. As time passes, Kathy eventually loses everyone close to her, including Tommy and Ruth. Soon enough Kathy too will become a donor. One day Kathy decided to drive up to