Never Let Me Go: A Story About Humanity
Imagine if you had to live with a predestined purpose to donate your vital organs. Your life could be cut short at anytime, and there is no getting out of it. Would you change the way you live and the decisions you make in your life?
Some would argue that living with the knowledge of your future death would make life unfulfilling and less meaningful. Technically, you already have a given purpose, so why strive to be your best self at all? Conversely, I believe this life can be a true testament of your humanity, character, and development as an individual. I think that living with this unfortunate fate would make you appreciate the little things a bit more and would affect the decisions you make for the better.
Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go is a complex novel that tackles this very idea. The story follows the lives of three clones: Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth, who acknowledge their inevitable "completions," or organ donations to their human counterparts.
To keep it more personal, the author tells the story through the perspective of one of the clones, Kathy. That way, it is easier to get a strong insight and connection to the characters' lives in order to think about your own. Although they are all clones of their human counterparts, their predestined and shortened life-spans act as metaphors for the lives of human beings.
Through the first part of the novel, it is interesting to note that Kathy sometimes tends to speak directly to the audience, saying things like "I don't know how it was where you were, but at Hailsham we had to have some form of medical almost every week" (13).
Later, Kathy refers to the audience again, stating "I don't know how it was where you were, but at Hailsham the guardians were really strict about smoking" (67). Ishiguro purposely has Kathy start off by saying the exact same phrase, again, "I don't know how it was where you were," so that readers do not miss her effort to express some sort of relationship between the clones and the audience (humans.)
Also, Kathy never really explains every detail fully. Whether it is why she needs a medical every week or why smoking is not permitted, no answer is given.
Instead, Ishiguro gives the audience the chance to make up any conclusion they want. I assumed that Kathy's superiors at Hailsham just wanted her to stay healthy, but someone else's opinion could differ. The point is, it does not matter what you think because all you are doing is relating more to the character and developing a personal relationship.
In fact, she does not even mention that she and the other students of Hailsham are organ-donating clones until later in the novel. This is important because with this information, as the audience, we could potentially develop preconceived notions about the characters and not relate to them as much.
But, if you haven't figured it out yet, this story is actually about humans, not clones.
The most significant relationship between the clones in the novel and humans focuses on the idea of mortality. Whether it be "completion" or death, ultimately, we share the same fate as the clones. Kathy recalls Miss Lucy's blunt and direct message to the students one afternoon, as she exclaims,
"None of you will go to America, none of you will be film stars. And none of you will be working in supermarkets as I heard some of you planning the other day. Your lives are set out for you. You'll become adults, then before you're old, before you're middle-aged, you'll start to donate your vital organs" (81).
From a young age, the clones must accept their futures and understand that their lives, in one aspect, are not in their control. Their bodies are merely protected for the sake of donations and there is no way they can predict the time and date of these offerings. Although it sounds like such a dark and gloomy ultimatum, how different is it from the lives of humans?
As readers, we can distance ourselves from these clones as much as we want, but the reality is that we can learn a lot from their actions and approaches to life. Even with this daunting reality, many of the clones still persevere, live life to the fullest, and do not let their fate define who you they are as individuals.
One morning, Kathy informs the audience that "Ruth had drifted away from the rest" of them and "was gazing across the field at the sunrise" (147). The act of Ruth gazing off into the sunset is a metaphor for how her optimism and ambitions are not determined by sole fate. She does not accept her life's predestined purpose, but rather, looks on the bright side.
This optimism is highlighted more as Chrissie tells Ruth, "You know... we might be coming here in a few years' time to visit you. Working in a nice office. I don't see how anyone could stop us from visiting you" (151). Ruth replies, "That's right... You can all come and see me" (151). Ruth looks up and stays positive because she does not know when her time to donate will be. She is a clone that is still dreaming even knowing her life is going to be cut short.
Ishiguro gives the audience a message.
Live fully in the moment and appreciate everything. It is how clones live out their lives.
Outlined through the perspective of Kathy, the clones embody ideals of love and creativity, and they try to build human-like identities by "structuring and narrating their past experiences" (Yeung, 6). Virginia Yeung, an expert in the field of mortality, explains how not only does Kathy develop a personal identity through the recollection of her life, but Yeung's piece also shares similarities to Ishiguro's idea about how the clones truly strive to live fulfilling lives.
Ishiguro's message is reflected in the last scene of the of the movie depiction of Never Let Me Go.
In it, Ruth watches the surgery of Tommy giving his final donation. However, even after losing him, she goes back to the field and, very importantly, looks off into the sunrise. She reflects on the blessings in her life and also realizes that being human is not different.
Although their lives can be prematurely ended, the clones embody the fact that eventually, everyone dies. However, it is how you live out your life that is truly counts.
Some would argue that living with the knowledge of your future death would make life unfulfilling and less meaningful. Technically, you already have a given purpose, so why strive to be your best self at all? Conversely, I believe this life can be a true testament of your humanity, character, and development as an individual. I think that living with this unfortunate fate would make you appreciate the little things a bit more and would affect the decisions you make for the better.
Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go is a complex novel that tackles this very idea. The story follows the lives of three clones: Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth, who acknowledge their inevitable "completions," or organ donations to their human counterparts.
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| Ruth, Kathy, and Tommy in the movie adaption of Never Let Me Go Photo Credit: The New York Times |
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| Hailsham from Never Let Me Go Photo Credit: Film-Locations |
Also, Kathy never really explains every detail fully. Whether it is why she needs a medical every week or why smoking is not permitted, no answer is given.
Instead, Ishiguro gives the audience the chance to make up any conclusion they want. I assumed that Kathy's superiors at Hailsham just wanted her to stay healthy, but someone else's opinion could differ. The point is, it does not matter what you think because all you are doing is relating more to the character and developing a personal relationship.
In fact, she does not even mention that she and the other students of Hailsham are organ-donating clones until later in the novel. This is important because with this information, as the audience, we could potentially develop preconceived notions about the characters and not relate to them as much.
But, if you haven't figured it out yet, this story is actually about humans, not clones.
The most significant relationship between the clones in the novel and humans focuses on the idea of mortality. Whether it be "completion" or death, ultimately, we share the same fate as the clones. Kathy recalls Miss Lucy's blunt and direct message to the students one afternoon, as she exclaims,
"None of you will go to America, none of you will be film stars. And none of you will be working in supermarkets as I heard some of you planning the other day. Your lives are set out for you. You'll become adults, then before you're old, before you're middle-aged, you'll start to donate your vital organs" (81).
From a young age, the clones must accept their futures and understand that their lives, in one aspect, are not in their control. Their bodies are merely protected for the sake of donations and there is no way they can predict the time and date of these offerings. Although it sounds like such a dark and gloomy ultimatum, how different is it from the lives of humans?
As readers, we can distance ourselves from these clones as much as we want, but the reality is that we can learn a lot from their actions and approaches to life. Even with this daunting reality, many of the clones still persevere, live life to the fullest, and do not let their fate define who you they are as individuals.
One morning, Kathy informs the audience that "Ruth had drifted away from the rest" of them and "was gazing across the field at the sunrise" (147). The act of Ruth gazing off into the sunset is a metaphor for how her optimism and ambitions are not determined by sole fate. She does not accept her life's predestined purpose, but rather, looks on the bright side.
 |
| Metaphorical depiction of Ruth looking off at the sunrise Graphic Interchange Format Credit: GIPHY |
Ishiguro gives the audience a message.
Live fully in the moment and appreciate everything. It is how clones live out their lives.
Outlined through the perspective of Kathy, the clones embody ideals of love and creativity, and they try to build human-like identities by "structuring and narrating their past experiences" (Yeung, 6). Virginia Yeung, an expert in the field of mortality, explains how not only does Kathy develop a personal identity through the recollection of her life, but Yeung's piece also shares similarities to Ishiguro's idea about how the clones truly strive to live fulfilling lives.
Ishiguro's message is reflected in the last scene of the of the movie depiction of Never Let Me Go.
The Final Scene of Never Let Me Go
Video Credit: Youtube
In it, Ruth watches the surgery of Tommy giving his final donation. However, even after losing him, she goes back to the field and, very importantly, looks off into the sunrise. She reflects on the blessings in her life and also realizes that being human is not different.
Although their lives can be prematurely ended, the clones embody the fact that eventually, everyone dies. However, it is how you live out your life that is truly counts.
This blog post was very thought provoking. You explored why we should be more attentive in the present moment and also how we are more similar to clones than we might think. This post made me think how I can focus more in the present and forget about any pressures that I have for my future. I agree in that we should let go of whatever forces us to care solely about the future and live for the moment. I particularly enjoyed how you used the clones in Never Let Me Go and showed us how we can learn from them and apply it to our own lives.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThank you for the comment, Christian. The purpose of my argument was to really challenge humans to just take a moment and consider their lives. Are they happy with their everyday routines, activities, and even relationships? Life is too short to be doing things you do not love.
DeleteThis blog post really made me think about the living life to the fullest and the whole idea of humans learning clones really resonated with me.
ReplyDeleteYes, learning from clones can sounds somewhat ironic at times because they are indeed copies of humans. However, they can potentially teach us the significance of life and not to take it for granted.
DeleteI would agree that knowing how you die can help one appreciate life better by removing the fear of the unknown in every person's life, death. However, I think that every person can live a fulfilling life, whether or not they knew how they died. I completely agree that what truly counts is how you live your life.
ReplyDeleteI like the addition of the movie's ending because it gives a better perspective to what Ishiguro's message really was, to live your best life no matter your circumstances.
Thank you, Cristobal. I also think that the movie's ending is a great way to visually understand the characters of the novel. I can talk about the book all I want, but a short video can really help with taking in the purpose of the argument.
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