Zach Duncan FYS Essay 2 Prompt 1 30 October 2015 A Fate Controlled by the Donors It is often hard to place blame on children or young adults. There is always a sense that they do not fully understand conditions or how the world works. However, in the novel, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, the children are donors who, at some point in their lives, will have to donate their vital organs. Although this is what the donors are supposed to do, it is not what they have to do. The donors are given enough information, incentives, and opportunities to challenge the donation process. Because of this, the donors are completely responsible for their own fates. The belief that the donors were completely responsible for their fate is almost certainly …show more content…
Kathy remains a carer much longer than Ruth and Tommy. In fact, Kathy ends up as Ruth’s carer. While Kathy is caring for Ruth after Ruth’s donation, Ruth seems to know she is about to die. As a final request, Ruth tells Kathy and Tommy, who she’s noticed have affection for one another, “[that they have to] try and get a deferral. If it’s [Tommy and Kathy], there’s got to be a chance. A real chance” (233). The fact that she mentions that Tommy and Kathy specifically could get a deferral points to the fact that she knows Kathy and Tommy have or have had feelings for each other. Kathy and Tommy, trying to avoid their imminent demises, do not object Ruth’s implications. Instead, they listen to Ruth and go to Madame’s house to inquire about a deferral. The timing of their trip to Madame’s comes right before Tommy has his fourth donation, which would see Tommy “complete,” the term used for death by donations. In an attempt to “beat the clock,” Kathy and Tommy arrive at Madame’s house and inform Madame and Miss Emily, who is also present, that the two of them are sure that they are in love and are in need of a deferral. However, as Miss Emily informs them, “there’s no truth to the [deferrals]. I’m sorry. I truly am” (258). In addition, Miss Emily adds, “it was never true” (258). At this point, Tommy and Kathy can no longer seek a deferral, which would extend their lives so that they could be together (the theory of deferrals claimed that although deferrals do not allow donors to avoid donations, they do allow them to hold off donations for a set amount of time), because it does not exist. However, in theory their other option is to escape the system and start their own lives elsewhere and avoid Tommy’s fourth donation (and death), as well as Kathy’s. Of course escape seems to make the most sense at this point, but