Tommy Being The Misunderstood Artist Makes Him Human

What do people think when someone says they are an artist? Do they jump to conclusions about socioeconomic status and personality? Or do they just become curious about the art the person produces?

In all honesty, most people will jump to the stereotype of the artist and try to match that person up with said stereotype.

The stereotypical artist is free of normal conventions and driven by deeper motivations that are “unseen” by non-artists. In touch with their emotions, loving “freely, [and] believing passionately,” never thinking of “conventional boundaries,” artists are admired for their creativity and ability to break away from the status quo. However, stereotypes of the artist separate them from the rest of society. Artists are often thought of to be "poor on the outside, but rich on the inside," an idea that often leads to people looking down on their trade. Despite that negative aspect of their stereotype, people admire “the Artist” for being unique individuals driven by whims or passions.

In Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Hailsham encouraged the students to embody parts of "the Artist" stereotype to prove that the clones possessed souls. Hailsham students need to be “in touch with their emotions” to be in touch with their art. That connection was thought to be a reflection of their humanity. Imparting part of one’s personality, or “soul,” into art was the assumption the guardians and Madame worked off. Art, to them, was the window into the clones', possibly non-existent, souls. Ernst Kris and Otto Kurz, two German researchers, summarized this idea with the claim that when an artist appears “certain stereotyped notions [are] linked with his work and his person,” and that idea is seen at Hailsham.

Art was everything to the students. Art was created, bought, and sold. Art defined each student's “value.” And for those who struggled to produce status quo appropriate art, they risked being bullied, facing “every day pranks” and isolation (Ishiguro 15). Getting art into the Gallery was the goal of every Hailsham student, and all mediums of art were valued. Art from Patricia C’s calendar that was “tiny and dumpy,” but with “a stunning little pencil sketch of a scene from Hailsham life” for each month, to Christy’s poems were all well regarded (Ishiguro 93). From the sheer amount of art produced and the emphasis and care each student had for their works, one can guess that many of the pieces the students created were beautiful. However, they were all beautiful in the same traditional and controlled style. That stylistic choice goes against the romanticized notion of “the Artist,” and thus the human aspect of art.

But then there was Tommy.

I imagine Tommy drew beautifully detailed animals. Described initially as “densely detailed” with “weaving tendons” and “wheels,” all of which were “drawn with obsessive precision,” that only created an “animal” when the page was held away, Tommy’s animals were complex (187). I imagine they look something like the drawing below.

Vladimir Gvodev

“Close up, each sketch was a mass of minute detail… (241)”

Using tiny drawings to create one larger image was Tommy’s style, and in all honesty, it was not as strange as everyone at Hailsham made it out to be. Artistically speaking, Tommy's animals could have been a modern mosaic. The smaller images inside the larger overall image illustrated a beautiful complexity fitting for Tommy’s complex personality. Mixing the "cold" nature of machinery with the "warmth" of life was jarring and somewhat unsettling, overall very new within the context of Hailsham. That novelty created Tommy's outcast status and the repression of his artistic flow. Regardless of that initial repression, Tommy’s return to the animals later in his life, reflected him sticking true to his style and personality. Tommy staying true to himself proves him to be the best reflection of humanity within the novel. Humans are taught to "stick to their guns," and Tommy reflected that.

While misunderstood, Tommy’s art exemplified the “ideal” artist the guardians wanted but had trouble creating. The unique nature of his work in a sea of students creating similar pieces, illustrated the “breaking the mold” idea that artists pursue. Surrounded by "classical artists" and trained "traditionally," Tommy created art unlike that of his classmates. And that simple fact proves his humanity.

"The Artist" is cutting edge and modern, always striving to stand out for their creative spirit. The sheer amount of pieces produced, however, often makes standing out difficult. Tommy unintentionally stands out but in doing so succeeded in achieving the goal of many artists actually in the field. Hailsham was in the countryside surrounded by nature, making it fitting for Tommy to take up drawing animals as his artistic pursuit. Yet, the twist he added to his animals was unlike that of his classmates, making his work more meaningful.

As a society, we claim that “everyone is different,” and that there is “no one else like us,” however at Hailsham, that idea was not well established. Outside of Hailsham, individuality and uniqueness were celebrated and encouraged qualities. But inside Hailsham, the students desired to meet the status quo. Kathy and her contentedness with following Ruth, the one defining the status quo, was an example of the students' fear of uniqueness.

At Hailsham, the clones created similar landscapes illustrating adherence to that uniformity made them feel safe. However, in “playing it safe” with their artwork, the students lacked a sense of artistic spirit, which to people like Madame, correlated to a lack of actual spirit. The small quirks in one’s artwork reflect the small quirks that we have as individuals. And those quirks are what define our unique personalities, and therefore our humanity. Without Tommy’s animals having those tiny details, they would likely have been animals easily replicated by another talented Hailsham student. Yet, Tommy being creative and adding in that other dimension to his art is what makes him a “true artist.”

Many great artists were misunderstood because they were pushing the envelope with ideas that many were not ready for. Creating exciting new works is the essence of these great artists, and Tommy paralleled their situations with his situation in Hailsham. His artistic journey is similar to that of Van Gogh.

Van Gogh The Night Cafe

Both men struggled with being understood. Van Gogh only ever sold one painting in his life, and no one ever recognized the beauty of Tommy's artwork. But that similarity in struggle proves their humanity. The idea of struggle and triumph is key to the "human spirit" and was strong in Tommy's character.

Van Gogh painted the majority of his works in the two years before his suicide, and Tommy returned to drawing his animals when he was on his way to completion. Continuing to work in their unique styles, however misunderstood, signaled their deep feelings towards their art. That perseverance illustrated connectivity, a trait that validated Tommy's humanity.

While Tommy’s individuality in art illustrated his humanity, it does not invalidate the humanity of the other students. Artistically, it may be difficult to claim that the students have “souls,” since they made many of the same works with the same mediums. The students' artistic repetition paralleled their status as clones. However, the personalities and moralities of many characters were not reflected or explored through their art. Kathy, with her character development from Ruth-follower to independent thinker modeled being human without being artistic. When finding Miss. Emily Kathy asks, “Did someone think we didn’t have souls?" a question that only a human could ask (260). Despite never describing her art, Kathy managed to qualify her status as a human by illustrating her self-awareness.

If that were the only criteria to define humanity, I am sure all the Hailsham students would have been labeled as human. But since art was the way humanity was "defined," Tommy was the only student we know of that earned the label of human. His artistic soul and expression were the most similar to that of "humans artists." Because of his unique artistic style, Tommy stood out and embodied the creative essence of "the Artist" that the other students missed through their works.

Tommy being the only student to break out of the traditional art realm and that begs the question if Hailsham ever truly wanted to see if the students had souls. In allowing the students to produce more of the same work were the guardians pushing the students towards uniformity, and thus their innate "clone-ness" as copies? Or was the repetition in work a consequence of Hailsham's isolation?