In Never Let Me Go the author demonstrates the relationship between the human clones and humans. At Hailsham, the ability to articulate artistic expression proves them having a “soul”, and therefore can be considered as a human being. After reading the book, the human clones at Hailsham possessed the same traits as humans such as emotions, hope and dreams, and curiosity. The guardians “real humans” showed the bad side of our society and human nature because they would brainwash the human clones and prepared them for donations until they were “completed”. Never Let Me Go demonstrates to the community that human clones are similar to humans. As for humans, the happiness is based on money, love, and freedom. The author encourages the society to discover the value of life by showing acceptance and love towards human clones.
Never Let Me Go is revolved around the three main characters Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth showing acceptance and love towards each other as humans. Each one of them focuses on attention through the storyline and the reader follow the relationship between the three main character. Kathy has a complex thought processes like humans this is important because Kathy is main character of the store who does not only affect the structure of the plot but also the theme. As for Kathy, with the knowledge of her destiny that she is going to end up as a donor or as carer, she takes refuge in her daydreams as she admits, “I didn’t like being dumped out of my daydreams” (209). This quote shows us that Kathy has dreams of her own and she does not like “being dumped out of her dreams” even after knowing her destiny. This quote also refers how Kathy dreams like “real humans”. In the book, Kathy listens to a song “Never Let Me Go” and she interpret the song to be about a young mother and her child. Kathy danced on the song pretending to hold a child with a pillow. This shows Kathy wants to have a normal life as humans. Kathy mentions the word “completed” instead of “death”. This shows is a very human response because when we face death, our friends and family will have a similar reaction. However, Tommy had a way of showing his human response.
Everyone had their way of expressing their ability to prove that they have feelings and ability to be creative as humans. At Hailsham, creativity in art was highly encouraged to show that students have a “soul” like humans. However, Tommy did not have the ability to be artistic and he was disrespected by other students. He is a very sensitive character because he is gentle, sympathetic, but still child at heart. Tommy has different qualities as compare to other students and he tend to find an alternative path from his pre-determinate fate. As Ruth says, ‘What you’ve got to realize is that even though Tommy was at Hailsham, he isn’t like a real Hailsham student.’ (152/153). This quote shows that Tommy was different from other students in terms of creativity which made him feel like an outsider. We can compare to this quote to humans because all humans have different qualities. Later in the chapter Tommy mentions says that ‘She told Roy that things like pictures, poetry, all that kind of stuff, she said they revealed what you were like inside. She said they revealed your soul’ (173). This quote shows how the importance of creativity at Hailsham to prove the human’s clones have soul. This gives Tommy gives some hope that not only art but other qualities such as pictures and poetry also shows that human clones have soul. Tommy always seeked into different path than his pre-determinate fate due to his curiosity. This curiosity and lack of creativity made him different everyone else.
Students at Hailsham had human guardian to prepare them for donations and to show that have a soul. Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth had guardians to prepare them for their donations until they “complete”. We are introduced to three different guardians in the novel. Their names are Miss Emily, Miss Lucy, and Madame. They tend to have different opinions about human clones’ fate. Miss Emily believed in protecting the students at Hailsham be keeping the information to herself about their inevitable fate. Emily says, “By sheltering your*** we foole you** we gaece you your childhoods” (268). This quote shows that Miss Emily does not hide everything from her students instead she gives them hints about what lies ahead in their lives. On the other hand, Miss Lucy believed in informing the students about their fate. She treats them like adults and want them to know the truth. Miss Lucy states “You’ve been told but none of you really understand it, and I dare say, some people are quite happy to leave it that way*** None of you will go to America, none of you will be film star **** Your lives are set out for you. You’ll become adults, then before you’re old, before you’re even middle-aged, you’ll start to donate your vital organs” (81). This quote shows Miss Lucy believes that students should be treated like adults because that is how humans gets treated. We get told about what lies ahead. Miss Lucy and Miss Emily both wanted to prove that human clones, but they both had different way of proving it.
Miss Emily states she knows how students are Hailsham are getting treated differently by saying “A generation of created children who’d take their place in society? Children demonstrably superior to the rest of us? Oh no. That frightened people. They recoiled from that” (264). She wanted them to be treated differently.
****Madame is a mysterious art collector. She collects the art in order to put into her gallery to show to the society that students at Hailsham are like humans. Madame and Miss Emily believes that art reveals soul of the person. Madame says “I saw a new world coming rapidly. More scientific, efficient, yes…Very good. But a harsh, cruel, world. And I saw a little girl, her eyes tightly closed, holding to her breast the old kind world, one that she knew in her heart could not remain, and she was holding it and pleading, never to let her go (234).” Madame responds more sensitively when she sees Kathy dancing to the Never Let Me Go song while holding a pillow. This quote clearly proves that Madame is touched by them and knows that they have soul and she want to prove it. Altogether, these factors show that humans clones have similar traits to human nature which proves that have soul because these traits give a subjective awareness to oneself.
In conclusion, each of the character in the Ishiguro’s novel each character interconnected and affects the impression of each theme of the novel. Throughout the novel, Kathy is mentioning her memories from her past which how us normal humans we do. Sometimes we make conversation with other people from our memories. This makes more like us “humans”. Clones and humans are different because a human born from natural mean. Human clones were not naturally born, but they have similar qualities as humans. They both had the dreams for the future, have a loved one. They both have factors such as creativity, dreams, hopes, and passion.
