Never Let Me Go: Overview

But, What About Our Future? “That’s sad. How plastic and artificial life has become. It gets harder and harder to find something…real.” ― Jess C. Scott, The Other Side of Life This quotation is ironic to the plot presented in the novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. The basic idea of the quote is that the more material items you obtain or desire, the more "plastic" you become. Although the clones in this novel are technically artificial, they appear, act, and think as humans showing their "realness", despite the fact that they are being materially deprived. Throughout Ishiguro's images of material deprivation like: the "exciting" and "crowded" (42) Sales that sell seemingly useless items, the scenes of the desperate, run-down cottages, and the melancholic life of a carer, we see that Hailsham is only different in some aspects from other, similar facilities and not all. Hailsham only concentrates on the early years of a clone's life and stops its concern after the clones "complete" (5) their time there. At Hailsham, clones only receive the bare necessities of life: food, water, and shelter. Without material items to interfere, the children are able to bypass this and use their minds creatively to create beautiful works of art. This is unlike humans who create materialistic monsters out of themselves by being overcome with want and greed. Arguably, life is simpler and more enjoyable without material items. For instance: Ruth's pencil case. It is a material item that causes turmoil between the girls. Ruth loves Miss Geraldine and wants to make it a point that she is her favorite to the other girls. So, she uses a material item such as a pencil case, found at the Sales, to provoke the other girls. The Sales usually bring joy to the clones because they want to find new, exciting items that will set them apart from the rest. However, students will argue over buying an item because they have their "hearts set on the same item" (42). Conclusively, the Sales