Never Let Me Go Research Paper

When Fate Leads to Demise

Lizzie Cattell

Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, Never Let Me Go, is a thrilling representation of identities being taken from humans, and turned into society accepted clones. Raised in a school like setting, Hailsham provides students, Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth, with the future of organ donations as the primary purpose for existence. Main character, Kathy, narrates the story by looking back and retelling her life to the best of her ability. Hailsham is an educational institution where the students spend the first sixteen years of their lives, and intentionally limits what was taught in art and creativity. Throughout the time spent at Hailsham, students had a broad understanding of their future. The idea of told and not told was

The ideas they were told as children provides familiarity as they grow older as to what lies ahead. The donors of Hailsham are completely not responsible for their own fates, although they do question their future at times, ultimately, the failure to rebel results in completion. The students are trapped in a world where they are convinced their lives are worthless and result in donating vital organs.

Beginning at a young age, the students are socially conditioned by the guardians to accept the purpose of their lives. The strict rules at Hailsham discourage students to human intimacy, “didn’t we all dream about guardians bending the rules and doing something special for us? A spontaneous hug, a secret letter, a gift” (Ishiguro 60). From the exterior, they resemble normal human beings, however, the students are forever

Having an unconventional childhood causes all the children to obey regardless of the extremity of any given situation in their years spent at Hailsham. The isolation they experience sets them up for a future of conformity. “Your lives are set out for you. You’ll become adults, then before you’re old, you’ll start to donate your vital organs. That’s what each of you was created to do” is finally told to the students by Miss Lucy (Ishiguro 81). In this situation, the donors are finally explained the straightforward truth about what is come. No steps are taken to flee Hailsham, seek freedom, or talk about how miserable their situation is. Instead, they accept it because in the back of their heads, they have always known to an extent. Everything is explained to them as children, despite the fact they were too young to understand at the time. Also, the guardians fail to encourage the students to think critically, consequently, no students’ questions this because of the comfortable life they are given. By being raised in the same place with the same people for sixteen years, provides a sufficient amount of time to control one’s actions. In this case, controlling one’s fate.

In an environment where organ donation is expected, the clones cannot alter their demise as a result of their up brining. After years spent at Hailsham,