Never Let Me Go
Independent Novel Study
In Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro the major themes in this book is hope, and free will. Hope plays as a symbol and feeling of freedom for the characters. Their curiosity is what causes their confidence to one day be free, but then is let down when having to face the truth that their life is set for them and that they must accept it. Free will is shown that clones are unable to change their fates as organ donors, but their lack of free will affects many other elements of their lives as well. For example, Ruth never achieves her dream of working in an office, and Kathy gets precious little time with Tommy. Ishiguro is ambiguous about where this lack of free will comes from because Ruth never tries to work in an office, we never learn whether her unhappy life is due to the system or her own lack of initiative.
In this novel hope plays a critical role in giving a conflict between the characters and reality. Ishiguro's outlook on hope is highly conflicted. Hope creates the characters to feel better and allows them to live decent lives (“I suppose it was mainly us newcomers who talked about dream futures that winter” pg 142). The students and veterans are happier at the Cottages because they have the idea that they can apply for deferrals if they wish (“So as Long you could convince them. So long as you qualified” pg 153). Later on in the book it is clarified that this Yang 2
was a rumor that Miss Emily a guardian at Hailsham allowed this rumor to exist because it give them hope. (“It’s something for them to dream about, a little fantasy” pg 258) In the novel's world, hope only comes from falsehoods and delusion which represented by their childhood growing up not knowing anything about their future lives. Conflict is also created by the characters themselves. Ruth who feels guilt towards the end confesses and tells Kathy that she is sorry for keeping apart her and Tommy. And from that Kathy's hope that she will be with Tommy is
In Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro the major themes in this book is hope, and free will. Hope plays as a symbol and feeling of freedom for the characters. Their curiosity is what causes their confidence to one day be free, but then is let down when having to face the truth that their life is set for them and that they must accept it. Free will is shown that clones are unable to change their fates as organ donors, but their lack of free will affects many other elements of their lives as well. For example, Ruth never achieves her dream of working in an office, and Kathy gets precious little time with Tommy. Ishiguro is ambiguous about where this lack of free will comes from because Ruth never tries to work in an office, we never learn whether her unhappy life is due to the system or her own lack of initiative.
In this novel hope plays a critical role in giving a conflict between the characters and reality. Ishiguro's outlook on hope is highly conflicted. Hope creates the characters to feel better and allows them to live decent lives (“I suppose it was mainly us newcomers who talked about dream futures that winter” pg 142). The students and veterans are happier at the Cottages because they have the idea that they can apply for deferrals if they wish (“So as Long you could convince them. So long as you qualified” pg 153). Later on in the book it is clarified that this Yang 2
was a rumor that Miss Emily a guardian at Hailsham allowed this rumor to exist because it give them hope. (“It’s something for them to dream about, a little fantasy” pg 258) In the novel's world, hope only comes from falsehoods and delusion which represented by their childhood growing up not knowing anything about their future lives. Conflict is also created by the characters themselves. Ruth who feels guilt towards the end confesses and tells Kathy that she is sorry for keeping apart her and Tommy. And from that Kathy's hope that she will be with Tommy is