Never Let Me Go Comparative Essay

Compare the contexts of Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go”, Hardy’s “Far From the Madding Crowd” and the poems of U.A Fanthorpe

The contextual background to these works set a framework for the themes and ideas to be revealed. Learning about the reflection of the authors’ own individuality in their work helps us understand characters and plots more easily. Also, the external influences (both societal and from relationships) elucidate the aims of the authors’. “Far From the Madding Crowd” was written in a time of significant change in Hardy’s life and the theme of change surrounds the entire novel, it exists on a small and large scale. Likewise, “Never Let Me Go” explores the change in the development of the human psyche and the mental changes
of life, from Hailsham to the cottages to donations. Again the comparison can be linked to Fanthorpe and the change degradation of the mind which she explores in “Casehistory:Alison”.
The societal background and setting contains a lot of significance at least in terms of Hardy and Ishisguro.
Both of their novels were written in terms of scientific and societal shift. “Far from the madding crowd” was written 15 years after the publication of Darwin’s “Origin of species”, this new scientific Weltanschauung coupled with the industrial revolution occurring in Britain meant Britain was in a state of rapid transition, particularly the displacement of people from the countryside into busy cities. Dale Kramer commented on “the folklore of Wessex that resisted the importunities of modern existence”i, this raises the notion of Hardy’s idealisation of the Wessex countryside and therefore his resentment of the crowded cities. Likewise Ishiguro’s 2005 novel is set in a dystopian recent past where scientific development has been prioritised over morality. The death of the first cloned sheep “Dolly” two years prior to the novel’s publication may have had some influence in its conceptualisation. Having been born in Nagasaki, Japan (site of a nuclear bomb attack) he would also be frighteningly aware of the repercussions of scientific development. Similarly, U.A Fanthorpe’s hospital poetry explores the dehumanisation of her patients in a late 70s Bristolian hospital, a depressing time in Britain (winter of
discontent).
Hardy’s relationship with God and religion comes into question.
Rosemarie Morgan comments that “Hardy’s rustics invoke the biblical texts”ii , “Cainy Ball’s ‘Genesis’ story, for example, touches subtly on what will later become an aspect of Hardy’s iconoclasm”. Hardy therefore uses aspects of the novel to portray a certain religious satire. On the very first page of the novel Hardy writes about Gabriel, saying “he went to church, but yawned privately by the time the congregation reached the Nicene creed”. However, at the same time Hardy also portrays Oak as a shepherd (biblical method for overseer and caretaker) and the novel is packed with Hellenic references. Perhaps this combination of positive and negative associations with God and religion reflects Hardy’s self-confessed agnosticism. Religion in “Never Let Me Go” is noteworthy because of its distinct absence from the novel. The lack of religion in the novel emphasises the idea of the clones being overlooked and it highlights the dangers of this scientific, apathetic dystopia. This could reflect the personal opinions of the author that without religion there is no morality. In Fanthorpe’s “After visiting hours” she uses religious imagery in relation her way into light”, “blessed for her
trip”.
Another point of comparison between the three texts is the notion of them being autobiographical. It seems like no coincidence that Bathsheba is presented the way she is in “Far From the Madding Crowd”. 1874 was both the year of the novel’s publication the year of Thomas and Emma Hardy’s marriage. One could interpret the novel to be a testament to his love for his wife. Bathsheba in the novel is strong, independent and unconventional; likewise Emma Hardy was part of the women’s suffrage movement. As regard to Ishiguro, his idea of changing environment in short spaces of time and being forced to reconcile with a sudden change could be related to his own upbringing, having moved from Japan at the age of six. All of U.A Fanthorpe’s poetry is de facto autobiogphical, her hospital poetry in particular is based around her own experiences and reveal thoughts and emotions assumed to be her own.
One commonality all three contexts seem to share is this notion of the characters being on the fringes of society both physically and figuratively. Hardy’s novel, set in 1830s/1840s Wessex displays a rural community physically segregated (right at the bottom of the country), It also figuratively in the sense that the protagonist Gabriel is persistently overlooked by Bathsheba throughout the novel. This notion is perhaps most pertinent in “Never Let Me Go” where the imagery of the sea is important, that emphasises their constraints as clones and also their position in society, dismissed as sub-human they are overlooked by the general public. In Fanthorpe’s poetry, she describes patients in “The list” as “a name, a time, a number”, bypassed and ignored due to her constant exposure to the ill. In addition, Fanthorpe spent time as a hospital receptionist in Bristol (also at the ‘fringes’ of the country).
Overall, all three authors share a lot of common ground, in that their personal experiences and backgrounds appear to have made an impact in creating their respective plots and characters. The societal attitudes at the backdrop of the texts are particularly relevant for the two novels. You can see after learning the authors backgrounds’, how a certain interpretation of the novel might be more valid. Hardy’s satire of religion for example is more significant in the light of his experiences with religion. The context of all three of these texts introduce us to themes we will explore upon reading them, themes like bypass people, religion and societal change.