What Measure of Free Will is Human?
What does it mean to be a person? To be a human? Is it merely to be a member of the species Homo Sapiens? Or are there requirements beyond biology and genes? Perhaps the ability to think one's own thoughts and make one's own choices? Many speculative fiction novels and media have probed into the question of humanity and personhood, however, Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go takes a unique approach to the quandary.
Never Let Me Go is a complex novel that explores the subtle facets of an alternate universe in which human clones are produced and raised for the sole reason of donating their organs. The story follows the experiences of three clones, Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth, their experiences of being groomed for their future duties, and the relationships and interactions that came about due to their unique situation, or perhaps, in spite of it.
However, despite the rising tensions and feelings throughout the novel, none of the clones ever decide to fight against their creators or to try and change the end that has been laid out for them. Due to this, the clones seem to be closer to a machine or computer program that is built, fulfills its purpose and then vanishes, with nary a thought otherwise. This machine-like existence seems to lower the clones' value as people despite their legitimate biological origins as copies of human beings.
In the entirety of Never Let Me Go, the clones never seem to truly have a deep issue with their lives. They suffer disappointment at false hopes and are able to be irritated or frustrated, but on a fundamental level, they never oppose the system that they were born into. There could be multiple reasons for it, one being that they never knew anything else, and as such found no issue with the reasons for their existences, or another touched on in the book, that is that they were methodically conditioned to accept them.
An early example of a clone having negative emotion but not directing that at the fundamental circumstances of his life is one of Kathy's unnamed donors during her duties as a Carer. That particular clone had been through a bad third donation and knew he was going to die during his fourth. However, instead of crying, raging or otherwise blaming his misfortunate existence, he merely looks for an opportunity to get happier memories.
While some may say that this particular clone had made peace with his death and faced it with dignity, that his sentiment of finding better memories before the inevitable was beautiful. On the other hand, I would argue that this unnamed clone is a representation of all other clones within the novel and shares their inability to truly oppose or find discontent with the state of affairs that the clones are born into and that, while profound, his sentiment is a signal of fundamental issue with the clones' mentality as individuals and people.
Of course, to look at the issues surrounding the clones' lack of rebellion and defiance, it is necessary to understand how these feelings and phenomena come about in other circumstances. To put it simply, defiance is felt because a person, or group, disagrees with something and rebellion is when defiance is put into action. Therefore, in regards to the clones, the question can be specified as: why don't the clones disagree with the state of affairs? This question leads to the related query regarding personhood: does the ability to disagree or have a differing will define a person? In regards to Never Let Me Go, the clones' lack of argument towards their intended purpose does paint them as more of a living medium for the needs of humanity rather than people in and of themselves.
There are several key aspects of Ishiguro's novel that relate to this central question. The first is an in-world possible explanation as to the clones' blase response to their inevitable demise, in other words, their lack of disagreement. Tommy believes that there were deliberate efforts on the part of caretakers to make sure the clones did not have issues with their fates.
However, the point of this was the children had, on some level, absorbed it, just not fully comprehended it. This would lead them to be of the mind that "we had already known that." This practice is essentially a form of mental conditioning which begins from the very beginning of the clones' existence.
Mental conditioning is something that happens in real life as well, perhaps not as methodically, but an example is the German Nazi Regime of the World War II era. The children of that time period were brought to believe in the Nazi cause and follow their values regarding Aryan superiority, especially over the Jewish people. The children were conditioned so thoroughly that the effects lasted long after the end of WWII. In the same way, the clones are introduced to their fates early on in their lives, and they grow up with that knowledge and no other real possibility. They have their fantasies, but they don't actually feel that they will do anything other than their mandated work. They never actually entertain the concept of doing anything else
Another peculiarity shown in the book is Kathy and Tommy pursuing the possibility of deferral as well as their emotions upon learning the truth of the deferral. Kathy and Tommy never look for anything other than an unsubstantiated rumor regarding the possibility of an allowance within the system itself. The idea of deferral was that it would be allowed to clones rather than being of their prerogative, it never strayed from the boundaries that the clones operated it, never reached a point where clones acted against the system or at the very least, not in accordance with it. Furthermore, upon learning that deferrals did not exist, Kathy and Tommy only think about the cruelty of the world itself, and although they do acknowledge that "it's our lives," that this entire horrible situation is all they have, they do not think about going beyond it (Ishiguro 266). They never stray from the path set down for them, a fact that once more differentiates them from the general conception of humanity and personhood and reduces them to a lower level than that of humanity.
On a greater scale, this can be applied to the clones as a whole. While it has been demonstrated time and time again throughout the novel that the clones try to find some solace in their own various ways, they never try and seek to change the status quo or even escape from it entirely. The farthest they ever go is chasing the rumors of deferral, which is a postponement of their fates rather than averting them entirely.
For example, Chrissie and Rodney, who feel that Hailsham students were "preferred" by the government and are trying to get a deferral due to their relationship. However, later on, Chrissie and Rodney are seen to have gone on with their duties as they were mandated to, with Chrissie "completing" on her second donation. Rodney had taken the news without much issue and was in his donation phase himself.
Through these different issues, the novel shows that the clones, no matter what scruples they have, never deviate from the road that their creators, the original humans, made for them. In regards to the fundamental matter of not dying, they have resigned themselves to meeting their death by donating their organs. The clones seem to fantasize about experiencing normal lives, such as office work, but they lack the will and drive that would make those things come about. In this way, the clones do seem to lack a differing will or disagreeing factor with their creators, and it does make them seem less than what would be indicated otherwise. Their biological humanity itself might not necessarily be in question, but as people and as individuals, they have given up in achieving anything beyond what others have told them to, merely existing as a mechanism for the rest of society to live. In this way, they allow themselves to be less than the full humans that they could be.
That being said, would this apply to humans in our world as well? Were there moments in history where people merely followed, without question, what they were told to do and were seen as less than human? Yes, of course. Many moments. The Nazis are famous for it, even using it as a legal defense such that Superior Orders are now known as the Nuremberg Defense. However, similar events occurred even later on in history. For example, the Vietnam War's My Lai Massacre, an atrocity in which over 350 civilians were butchered, was carried out by soldiers "just following orders." In fact, it was this fact that made people lose faith in human decency. It was clearly inhumane that a soldier would follow the orders of superior despite how utterly wrong they were, just like how it would be uncharacteristic of anyone to never question a horrible system that turns them into human livestock.
Ruth, Tommy, and Kathy (left to right) from the 2010 film adaptation of Never Let Me Go
Photo Credit: Pinterest
Never Let Me Go is a complex novel that explores the subtle facets of an alternate universe in which human clones are produced and raised for the sole reason of donating their organs. The story follows the experiences of three clones, Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth, their experiences of being groomed for their future duties, and the relationships and interactions that came about due to their unique situation, or perhaps, in spite of it.
However, despite the rising tensions and feelings throughout the novel, none of the clones ever decide to fight against their creators or to try and change the end that has been laid out for them. Due to this, the clones seem to be closer to a machine or computer program that is built, fulfills its purpose and then vanishes, with nary a thought otherwise. This machine-like existence seems to lower the clones' value as people despite their legitimate biological origins as copies of human beings.
In the entirety of Never Let Me Go, the clones never seem to truly have a deep issue with their lives. They suffer disappointment at false hopes and are able to be irritated or frustrated, but on a fundamental level, they never oppose the system that they were born into. There could be multiple reasons for it, one being that they never knew anything else, and as such found no issue with the reasons for their existences, or another touched on in the book, that is that they were methodically conditioned to accept them.
An early example of a clone having negative emotion but not directing that at the fundamental circumstances of his life is one of Kathy's unnamed donors during her duties as a Carer. That particular clone had been through a bad third donation and knew he was going to die during his fourth. However, instead of crying, raging or otherwise blaming his misfortunate existence, he merely looks for an opportunity to get happier memories.
"...he must have known he wasn't going to make it...he wanted to hear about Hailsham...What he wanted was not just to hear about Hailsham, but to remember Hailsham, just like it had been his own childhood" (Ishiguro 5-6).
Kathy's realizations regarding what the Donor wanted before his last donation
While some may say that this particular clone had made peace with his death and faced it with dignity, that his sentiment of finding better memories before the inevitable was beautiful. On the other hand, I would argue that this unnamed clone is a representation of all other clones within the novel and shares their inability to truly oppose or find discontent with the state of affairs that the clones are born into and that, while profound, his sentiment is a signal of fundamental issue with the clones' mentality as individuals and people.
Of course, to look at the issues surrounding the clones' lack of rebellion and defiance, it is necessary to understand how these feelings and phenomena come about in other circumstances. To put it simply, defiance is felt because a person, or group, disagrees with something and rebellion is when defiance is put into action. Therefore, in regards to the clones, the question can be specified as: why don't the clones disagree with the state of affairs? This question leads to the related query regarding personhood: does the ability to disagree or have a differing will define a person? In regards to Never Let Me Go, the clones' lack of argument towards their intended purpose does paint them as more of a living medium for the needs of humanity rather than people in and of themselves.
There are several key aspects of Ishiguro's novel that relate to this central question. The first is an in-world possible explanation as to the clones' blase response to their inevitable demise, in other words, their lack of disagreement. Tommy believes that there were deliberate efforts on the part of caretakers to make sure the clones did not have issues with their fates.
"Tommy thought it possible the guardians had, throughout all our years at Hailsham, timed very carefully and deliberately everything they told us, so that we were always just too young to understand properly the latest piece of information" (Ishiguro 82).
Tommy's beliefs regarding the clones' response to Miss Lucy's outburst
However, the point of this was the children had, on some level, absorbed it, just not fully comprehended it. This would lead them to be of the mind that "we had already known that." This practice is essentially a form of mental conditioning which begins from the very beginning of the clones' existence.
Mental conditioning is something that happens in real life as well, perhaps not as methodically, but an example is the German Nazi Regime of the World War II era. The children of that time period were brought to believe in the Nazi cause and follow their values regarding Aryan superiority, especially over the Jewish people. The children were conditioned so thoroughly that the effects lasted long after the end of WWII. In the same way, the clones are introduced to their fates early on in their lives, and they grow up with that knowledge and no other real possibility. They have their fantasies, but they don't actually feel that they will do anything other than their mandated work. They never actually entertain the concept of doing anything else
Another peculiarity shown in the book is Kathy and Tommy pursuing the possibility of deferral as well as their emotions upon learning the truth of the deferral. Kathy and Tommy never look for anything other than an unsubstantiated rumor regarding the possibility of an allowance within the system itself. The idea of deferral was that it would be allowed to clones rather than being of their prerogative, it never strayed from the boundaries that the clones operated it, never reached a point where clones acted against the system or at the very least, not in accordance with it. Furthermore, upon learning that deferrals did not exist, Kathy and Tommy only think about the cruelty of the world itself, and although they do acknowledge that "it's our lives," that this entire horrible situation is all they have, they do not think about going beyond it (Ishiguro 266). They never stray from the path set down for them, a fact that once more differentiates them from the general conception of humanity and personhood and reduces them to a lower level than that of humanity.
On a greater scale, this can be applied to the clones as a whole. While it has been demonstrated time and time again throughout the novel that the clones try to find some solace in their own various ways, they never try and seek to change the status quo or even escape from it entirely. The farthest they ever go is chasing the rumors of deferral, which is a postponement of their fates rather than averting them entirely.
Rodney and Chrissie (left to right) from the 2010 film adaptation of Never Let Me Go
Photo Credit: Tumblr
For example, Chrissie and Rodney, who feel that Hailsham students were "preferred" by the government and are trying to get a deferral due to their relationship. However, later on, Chrissie and Rodney are seen to have gone on with their duties as they were mandated to, with Chrissie "completing" on her second donation. Rodney had taken the news without much issue and was in his donation phase himself.
"He said he thought Chrissie wouldn't have minded too much. And I suppose he should know" (Ishiguro 226).
Kathy regarding Rodney's response to Chrissie "completing"
In fact, he believed that Chrissie herself wouldn't haven't have had too much of an issue with the circumstances of her death. On a general scale, the clones not only find no issue with their own demise, but they find no issue with the demise of their compatriots, leading to a situation where not a single clone finds an issue with their purpose or acts against it. While such unity of thought might be praiseworthy in the real world, seeing as problems like racism still exist, for the clones, this unity of the matter of their death is a fundamental deficiency that separates them from normal people.Through these different issues, the novel shows that the clones, no matter what scruples they have, never deviate from the road that their creators, the original humans, made for them. In regards to the fundamental matter of not dying, they have resigned themselves to meeting their death by donating their organs. The clones seem to fantasize about experiencing normal lives, such as office work, but they lack the will and drive that would make those things come about. In this way, the clones do seem to lack a differing will or disagreeing factor with their creators, and it does make them seem less than what would be indicated otherwise. Their biological humanity itself might not necessarily be in question, but as people and as individuals, they have given up in achieving anything beyond what others have told them to, merely existing as a mechanism for the rest of society to live. In this way, they allow themselves to be less than the full humans that they could be.
That being said, would this apply to humans in our world as well? Were there moments in history where people merely followed, without question, what they were told to do and were seen as less than human? Yes, of course. Many moments. The Nazis are famous for it, even using it as a legal defense such that Superior Orders are now known as the Nuremberg Defense. However, similar events occurred even later on in history. For example, the Vietnam War's My Lai Massacre, an atrocity in which over 350 civilians were butchered, was carried out by soldiers "just following orders." In fact, it was this fact that made people lose faith in human decency. It was clearly inhumane that a soldier would follow the orders of superior despite how utterly wrong they were, just like how it would be uncharacteristic of anyone to never question a horrible system that turns them into human livestock.
Works Cited
Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. Faber, 2006.
I agree that the clones were not able to live up to their full potential by going along with the donations. I believe that free will is fundamental to the human experience, but the clones were stripped of this. Were they being utilized as best as they could, or could they have made a larger impact on society in a different way?
ReplyDeleteTruthfully, as a mechanism, I don't believe the clones were necessary whatsoever. Since the society in Never Let Me Go clearly had advanced cloning capabilities, they could tailor make each organ to any human who needed one by taking their DNA and making an organ with 100% match. That said, I do believe that as people the clones could have done so much more if they were raised properly and were allowed to do so.
DeleteI think that free will does not exist in this world. We are socially conditioned creatures. Clones aren't able to experience free will either, in this way they are almost more human like.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that's true. Every person on earth only takes the actions they do because of their experiences which can be considered a form of conditioning, even if it isn't deliberate. It would be poetic if I were to say that I believe in free will despite that, but I do agree that I believe free will can be conditioned away, or perhaps humans can be conditioned such that they never had free will to begin with. That said, I believe free will to be choice, and while our actions can be traced back to our experiences, however since those experiences are our own, I would argue that our choices are our own, and hence we have free will. We're often told to take responsibility for our actions. If free will doesn't exist, then who should take responsibility for all the crimes committed in the world?
DeleteI think I disagree with your final point that because they seem to be a mechanism for society they are less than full humans. I would argue that almost everyone is a mechanism for society. Aren't we here, in college, trying to get a degree so we can contribute to in the work field and maintain our capitalist society? Aren't we all mechanisms for society? And yet I would hardly call us not full humans. So much of what we do everyday is on a path laid down by someone else. In my personal experience, deviating from this path brings feelings of fulfillment. Perhaps the clones are unable to feel like they live fulfilling lives, but does this make them less human?
ReplyDeleteI do agree that on some level, we are all gears in the machine of society, but I also believe that we were not created for that purpose. Society is a construct of humanity, and we work to sustain it because we see value in it. If no one saw any value in society then I do believe that it would collapse eventually. As human beings, we make the chose to perpetuate society for whatever reasons we decide. On some level, I admit that an individual or even a small group cannot disregard society because of how global it is in the modern day, but I do believe that on the greater scale, society was made by humans for humans. This is distinct from the clones because the clones never bothered to try anything else. We as people have, sometimes with spectacular failures. The clones follow their straight and narrow path without question despite negative emotion in some cases.
Delete