It is human nature to create. Humans are programmed to develop new, original ideas. Therefore, creation exposes the human soul. In Never Let Me Go, one’s art “reveal[s] [their] soul” (Ishiguro 175); specifically, Tommy’s drawings of imaginary animals prove that he is creative, thus he is human-like, and cannot be viewed simply as a clone without a soul. I will first discuss how both Kathy’s and Ruth’s reactions when first seeing Tommy’s animals, even though different, show how original the drawings are. The originality of the art reveals that Tommy is human-like because it proves his creativity. I will then compare Tommy’s art when he is at Hailsham to Tommy’s art after he leaves Hailsham. As a student, Tommy has great difficulty being creative,
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At Hailsham, the student’s art was directly related to their social status: “How much you were liked and respected, had to do with how good you were at ‘creating’ ” (16). As a student, Tommy was often ridiculed due to his “childish” art and because “he wasn’t keeping up” with his peers (20). Tommy was mocked by the other students, “there’d be sneers and giggles all around him . . . he got left out of games, boys refused to sit next to him at dinner, or pretended not to hear if he said anything in his dorm after lights-out” (20). These taunts prove that the other students labelled Tommy as having poor ability to “create”, but it is unfair of the other students to label Tommy as being uncreative because his art is not similar to theirs (16). It is unfair because true creativity cannot be taught at a school. Later when Tommy first creates his animals at the Cottages, he has no schooling from the Guardians, and this is how he creates something entirely original. This lack of guidance lets Tommy create something that comes only from his own soul and displays his own …show more content…
Tommy’s imaginary animals reflect how he is feeling, and as a result, they change when he becomes a donor. A few years after the Cottages, Tommy becomes a donor and Kathy becomes his carer, and at this time Tommy shows Kathy his new imaginary animals. Kathy reflects on Tommy’s recent drawings: “Tommy’s drawings weren’t as fresh now . . . something was definitely gone, and they looked laboured, almost like they’d been copied” (241). Frankly, Tommy is dying as a donor, and he is aware that he will soon die. He is certainly feeling unhappy at this stage in his life, due to the fact that he is losing himself as an individual because he recognizes that he is a clone and he will donate until he dies. Kathy calling the art “copied” shows how these feelings are reflected in his art, because she confirms a lack of creativity, which reflects his emotions about coming to terms with his life as a clone, or, a copy (241). The fact that the animals look like they are lacking something they once had is important because this shows how Tommy’s negative emotions have a negative effect on his art and that Kathy does not find his art as good as it once was to her. The connection between the quality Tommy’s imaginary animals and his emotions reveals that his
At Hailsham, the student’s art was directly related to their social status: “How much you were liked and respected, had to do with how good you were at ‘creating’ ” (16). As a student, Tommy was often ridiculed due to his “childish” art and because “he wasn’t keeping up” with his peers (20). Tommy was mocked by the other students, “there’d be sneers and giggles all around him . . . he got left out of games, boys refused to sit next to him at dinner, or pretended not to hear if he said anything in his dorm after lights-out” (20). These taunts prove that the other students labelled Tommy as having poor ability to “create”, but it is unfair of the other students to label Tommy as being uncreative because his art is not similar to theirs (16). It is unfair because true creativity cannot be taught at a school. Later when Tommy first creates his animals at the Cottages, he has no schooling from the Guardians, and this is how he creates something entirely original. This lack of guidance lets Tommy create something that comes only from his own soul and displays his own …show more content…
Tommy’s imaginary animals reflect how he is feeling, and as a result, they change when he becomes a donor. A few years after the Cottages, Tommy becomes a donor and Kathy becomes his carer, and at this time Tommy shows Kathy his new imaginary animals. Kathy reflects on Tommy’s recent drawings: “Tommy’s drawings weren’t as fresh now . . . something was definitely gone, and they looked laboured, almost like they’d been copied” (241). Frankly, Tommy is dying as a donor, and he is aware that he will soon die. He is certainly feeling unhappy at this stage in his life, due to the fact that he is losing himself as an individual because he recognizes that he is a clone and he will donate until he dies. Kathy calling the art “copied” shows how these feelings are reflected in his art, because she confirms a lack of creativity, which reflects his emotions about coming to terms with his life as a clone, or, a copy (241). The fact that the animals look like they are lacking something they once had is important because this shows how Tommy’s negative emotions have a negative effect on his art and that Kathy does not find his art as good as it once was to her. The connection between the quality Tommy’s imaginary animals and his emotions reveals that his