Aspects of Humanity Revealed through Symbolism in Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go has been widely acclaimed for its insights into the depths of human life. On the surface, the main characters, Kathy H., Tommy, and Ruth live completely normal lives, but their inevitable futures as organ donors separates them from “normal” people. Throughout their childhood and adolescent lives, the characters encounter various objects that become sentimental to them. Kathy greatly values her Judy Bridgewater Cassette Tape, and it becomes symbolic of the complex relationships she has formed and the losses she has suffered. Animals also play a large role in the lives of the clones, representing their creativity and individuality. As the characters
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In her article, “Imitation of Life: Cloning, Heterosexuality and the Human in Kazuo Ishiguro 's Never Let Me Go,” Rachel Caroll elaborates on the prospective of cloning humans and how it relates to human identity and sexuality. She explains that because the main characters live outside the normal conventions of a family structure, “they affirm a collective identity defined against those they term the ‘normals’” (59). She argues that despite attempts to normalize their lives, the characters still face discrimination and this denial of their right to agency and self-discrimination gives them a states of less than human which can be attributed to their “unconventional relationship to reproductive origin as human clones” (59). Another key issue that Carroll’s article addresses is sexuality, and she believes that the exclusion of the clones from the lifestyle of the normal people pertains to “their nonnormative heterosexuality,” and that the novel reveals “the way in which heterosexuality as an institution both produces and penalises non-normative heterosexual identities” (69). Literary scholar Gabriele Griffin also discusses the way Never Let Me Go relates to modern issues. Throughout her article, “Science and the Cultural Imaginary: The Case of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go,” she focuses on “how science figures both in this particular novel …show more content…
After receiving the tape during a “sale” at Hailsham, Kathy instantly grows attached to it and protective over it. She would spend hours alone listening to one particular song, titled “Never Let Me Go,’ that she treasures dearly: “The only place I could listen properly was our dorm…So that’s where I used to go, in the day when no one else was likely to be about, to lay my song over and over” (70). Music plays a powerful role in relation to human memory, and for Kathy, even after many years have passed, this song brings back memories of her time at Hailsham and the friendships she formed there. Listening to the tape would help Kathy focus on happy times and distract her from the harsh reality of her situation as a clone. Years later, after finding the same cassette with Tommy, the tape comes to hold a deeper significance in Kathy’s life: “When I think of that moment now, standing with Tommy in the little side-street about to begin our search, I feel a warmth welling up inside me. Everything suddenly felt perfect: an hour set aside, stretching ahead of us, and there wasn’t a better way to spend it” (171). During her childhood, Kathy always felt emotionally attached to Tommy, but these feelings had to be suppressed due to Tommy’s relationship with Ruth, Kathy’s best friend. The discovery
In her article, “Imitation of Life: Cloning, Heterosexuality and the Human in Kazuo Ishiguro 's Never Let Me Go,” Rachel Caroll elaborates on the prospective of cloning humans and how it relates to human identity and sexuality. She explains that because the main characters live outside the normal conventions of a family structure, “they affirm a collective identity defined against those they term the ‘normals’” (59). She argues that despite attempts to normalize their lives, the characters still face discrimination and this denial of their right to agency and self-discrimination gives them a states of less than human which can be attributed to their “unconventional relationship to reproductive origin as human clones” (59). Another key issue that Carroll’s article addresses is sexuality, and she believes that the exclusion of the clones from the lifestyle of the normal people pertains to “their nonnormative heterosexuality,” and that the novel reveals “the way in which heterosexuality as an institution both produces and penalises non-normative heterosexual identities” (69). Literary scholar Gabriele Griffin also discusses the way Never Let Me Go relates to modern issues. Throughout her article, “Science and the Cultural Imaginary: The Case of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go,” she focuses on “how science figures both in this particular novel …show more content…
After receiving the tape during a “sale” at Hailsham, Kathy instantly grows attached to it and protective over it. She would spend hours alone listening to one particular song, titled “Never Let Me Go,’ that she treasures dearly: “The only place I could listen properly was our dorm…So that’s where I used to go, in the day when no one else was likely to be about, to lay my song over and over” (70). Music plays a powerful role in relation to human memory, and for Kathy, even after many years have passed, this song brings back memories of her time at Hailsham and the friendships she formed there. Listening to the tape would help Kathy focus on happy times and distract her from the harsh reality of her situation as a clone. Years later, after finding the same cassette with Tommy, the tape comes to hold a deeper significance in Kathy’s life: “When I think of that moment now, standing with Tommy in the little side-street about to begin our search, I feel a warmth welling up inside me. Everything suddenly felt perfect: an hour set aside, stretching ahead of us, and there wasn’t a better way to spend it” (171). During her childhood, Kathy always felt emotionally attached to Tommy, but these feelings had to be suppressed due to Tommy’s relationship with Ruth, Kathy’s best friend. The discovery