Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go

The 90s were a time where a new era was ushered in. The world was introduced to a new style, where African-American entertainment and culture were prospering and seen as the cool way to live. Americans were crazy for new groups such as the Backstreet Boys and N Sync, presenting a new style of music. However, the 90s pictured in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is much different. The story is narrated by Kathy H., a “carer” who is at the end of her career. She is currently looking after her longtime friend Ruth, who just finished giving her “donations”. We don’t know what these donations are, but they do not seem to be very positive. Growing up, the two of the lived in Hailsham, where they learned and studied to be creative, educated individuals, with the hopes of being noticed by Madame, the head of Hailsham. Kathy and Ruth look back on their time at Hailsham, discussing some of the best- and worst- times they had along with their other friend Tommy,
Kathy asks Ruth why she never pursued the possibility of getting to office job she had always dreamed of. With a barely audible voice, Ruth tells her, “How could I have tried… It’s just something I once dreamed about. That all,” (230). Ruth again shows the idea that her fate is sealed and there was no possibility of defying the life she was given to live. We see many of the characters in Never Let Me Go follow the theme that sometimes your fate is sealed and it is easier to accept it. Kathy has a choice at the end of the novel on whether to go to Madame and request to leave on her own, or continue on the path Hailsham set her on. Her choice is to complete her donations, since she decides that fighting it is useless. The motif used to develop the theme, animals created by Tommy, shows how he stuck to the precision from Hailsham, and that he wasn’t willing to change himself once he