Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
"Told and Not Told"
I found Ishiguro's novel thought-provoking, disturbing, fascinating, and heartwrenching. This novel touches upon serious moral issues through a deceptive writing style. Intially, when I began reading Ishiguro's work, I found the writing style to be confusing. It seemed that the narrator, Kathy, was not clear to the reader on her time frame, offering a flashback style to her voice that was at first difficult to follow. As I got further into the story, I realized that on the surface, it was Kathy's story of her time at an English Boarding School called Hailsham, and what happened while at Hailsham and after. Kathy tells the story when she is 31 years old, reflecting back to her youth at Hailsham with her friends, specifically Tommy and Ruth, and life after Hailsham at the Cottages, and then her life as a "carer". At first, I thought this story was about friendship and love, but then I realized that there was a serious undercurrent running throughout the novel, and that the writing style itself was actually a sort of metaphor for what was really going on for Kathy, Tommy, Ruth, and the other students. This "secondary" story is vaguely referred to in Part I, connected in Part II, and made clear in Part III. Just as Kathy was given "hints" throughout her childhood at Hailsham on what was to be for her in life, the reader is also given these hints; not only through the literal placing of these hints throughout the work, but also through the writing style. Just as Kathy's life begins to make sense for her, so does the narration, and the story, become clear for the reader. As Kathy experiences being "told and not told" at Hailsham, so does the reader. I came to discover that what is alluded to at Hailsham is really part of the central story in Never Let Me Go. In Part I, I thought I was just learning about life for Kathy as a typical English Boarding School student, but then I started to realize the evasive nature of life at Hailsham. While Part I appears to be the basis for this story of friendship, there is also an eerie, strange tone that is developed, especially through the use of characters like Madame, Miss Lucy, Miss Emily, and through the handling of sex, art, and Kathy's dancing to "Never Let Me Go".
Part II is life immediately after Hailsham, at the Cottages, and here the sense of sex being the furthest thing from making love is developed. Although the students learn about sex at Hailsham, it is not exactly like the way students learn about sex today, both in-school and out. It is almost robotic the way that Kathy and the other students approach sex, and while the guardians are bothered by it, the students are not. It becomes clear that Kathy, Tommy, Ruth and the other students at Hailsham have been created for a specific reason, and that the other students at the Cottages have been created for the same reason; as future donors of vital organs. It is in Part II that I began to be horrified for Kathy and the student's situation, yet Kathy and the other students were not horrified. I also began feeling sympathy and heartbreak for Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy as they search for a biological connection to Ruth's life, and the simple dreams they dream of, but can never achieve, because of who they are. I wanted the characters "revealing" of their souls to mean something; not just for me, but for them as well.
Part III is Kathy's life after the Cottages, and here is where the story comes together and connects. Interesting, Kathy's voice is the easiest to follow in this section. Part III really disturbed me as I realized how Kathy and the other students have been raised/viewed as just "things" with an eventual purpose, not people with souls. What disturbed me so much was that Miss Emily and Madame thought so highly of themselves for making a better life for their students through Hailsham; providing them with an education and some sense of a life(their point of view), but yet they knew they were raising these students/clones for life as a donor, a life which ultimately only leads to death. Miss Emily and Madame did nothing to stop the ultimate fate of these students, but what disturbed me more was that Kathy and Tommy are so accepting of this fate and that they were raised for this fate. You could argue that they have been aware of their fate their entire life, so this is not disturbing to them since this is their purpose in life. Yet the clones have experienced other human emotions, so why not now? Miss Emily and Madame are so vile, they encouraged the students to reveal their souls, but they do not acknowledge/recognize that they have souls, and this is what makes them human. When I ended this work, I couldnt help but question how we define life in our society. Here are some questions for you to consider:
1- Can Science/Medicine go to far? Is it acceptable to sacrifice a human life if many lives can be saved as a result?
2--What does it mean to be a "human"? Why did Kathy and the other students receive the education that they did at Hailsham? Were they human?
3- Would you feel comfortable teaching this novel in your current teaching situation? What are some dangers in teaching this at your school? How would you "sell" this novel to the Administration of your school?
4- Did the writing style of this novel work for you? Why or why not?
5--What do you think Ishiguro's purpose was in writing this work? What was being "told and not told"? How has history "told and not told"? Why were Kathy and the other students "told and not told"? Why was Kathy's voice telling and not telling? Did you experience any of the emotions that I did?
posted by elizabeth @ 7:10 PM
6 Comments:
This was so interesting to read, Elizabeth, and I can't wait to talk about the book in class and hear other people's reactions. I think I had a different response to Miss Emily and Madame, and I went back and re-read many times the scene in which Kathy and Tommy go to visit them at the end of the book. I thought Miss Emily was so disappointed that she and the other educators who believed as she did couldn't have done more than they did, and she is sad for the fact that schools like Hailsham, which have now all been closed, no longer exist, and that students are now raised in "deplorable conditions." I thought she was proud of what she'd accomplished but I didn't feel she, as you said, thought so highly of herself, or that she might have had any ability to do anything to change the fate of these students. I felt that she was powerless to change their destiny, so she chose to instill in them a humanity and a dignity that many "normals" didn't want to acknowledge was there. To teach them, to give them a sense of identity, even though they were all destined for the same end. You said you felt that they didn't acknowledge that the students had souls, but she said she put their art on display to prove to the world that these kids did have souls. You said you found Emily and Madame vile; I would really like to know what others thought. Great summary of the book, by the way, and good thought-provoking questions.
Elizabeth, I really enjoyed reading your entry just as much as I did reading this novel. I felt that same ambiguity and fogginess as I read through the text as well. Reflecting back, I can see how Ishiguro leads readers through the same path as Kathy and the lot, by only allowing certain aspects to reveal themselves as she was learning them herself. I also thought it interesting that the author never reveals any sort of last name or familial identity in any of the students.
This text really delves into some deep issues about morality and medicine. For me, I saw these characters as humans; I was able to connect to some of their experiences, and I really wanted Tommy and Kathy to run away in the end. I found myself really hoping for a happy ending. Which makes me think that science could go too far if something like this were to occur. On one hand I see its benefits, but I am compelled by the morality of this type of science. How can we allow ourselves to murder others for the health of another? I think that Ishiguro was extremely clever in stating how the people wanted to forget that these clones existed and "leave them in the shadows" so that these people could separate themselves from what they feared. One question though, if it were possible to clone, why not clone just the body part?
As for teaching this to my sixth grade students, I doubt it. Even without the sex stuff, the concept of using clones for medicinal purposes and the moral impact it would have may be above their level of understanding. I'm really not sure if they would grasp any of the messages that could benefit their education at this point.
Elizabeth, I had a similar reading experience throughout the entirety of the book. Initially, I was a little lost and unable to connect with the voice of the narrator. I was very disconnected as the reader. Eventually, many things were cleared up, which drew me further into the book.
I'm not sure if this novel would work in the high school setting. There would have to be a lot of guidance, particularly in the beginning of the book. The content is both intruiguing and disturbing, so the response in the classroom would be varied.
It's interesting that a lot of people are bringing up the fact that Ishiguro structures the novel so that the reader's experience--a sort of naive confusion--mirrors Kathy's (and that of the other students, or clones, carers, donors...). We learn gradually, piece by piece.
I'm going to suggest that this process involves something a lot like Fauconnier and Turner's "conceptual blending." Can anybody think of an example of a form of blending represented in the book, something along the lines F&T describe?
emjay said...
I found your comments interesting and thought provoking. I too felt an uneasiness in reading the novel.
What scares me is the seemingly normalcy of the young adults working through everyday issues, while knowing that their predetermined destiny does not allow for a future.
Ishiguro seemingly destroys his fantastic world at the end of the novel, but glimpses of this world remain, giving an indication of the possibility for recreation. This too gives me an uneasy feeling. Is Ishiguro hinting that technology could lead us down a path that will make it impossible to destroy monsters we have created?
after the discussion of the novel and the voice it came to my attention that voice is so difficult to discuss and to interpret because the reader himself has his own voice. i feel i reader's interpretation of the voice is how he or she really thinks of the situation and in what state of mind did the reader have when he or she first sat down to read the novel
Post a Comment
<< Home