Observations about “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro: the plot

*contains spoilers*

This novel is written in a first-person narrative, from the perspective of Kathy H. Kathy H. grew up in Hailsham, in what seems to be a boarding school at first, but turns out to be a place in which kids are destined for something much greater live. These kids are destined to be donors, they have been cloned from random people in society -though according to the theory of Ruth, one of Kathy’s very good friends, the people they were cloned from weren’t random at all, they were people no one really cared about like drug addicts, prostitutes or criminals- to be organ donors. This novel takes place during the time when cloning first began to take place, in fact, the inspiration came to the writer from Dolly the sheep, the first animal to be cloned.

Anyways, it’s later revealed that there are several institutions similar to Hailsham which house kids who have been cloned to become organ donors, though Hailsham is the best one. Throughout their lives, the main concerns of the students are to keep themselves healthy and to produce artwork. These concerns are instilled into them This seems odd enough, why is creativity valued so much if the same fate awaits them regardless of their talent or natural inclination towards art? If anything, this makes everything more tragic, a kid who doesn’t want to pursue anything might simply think “I’ll just pursue the path of life created for me”; but one that has hopes and dreams and talent will no longer will be choosing to pursue the path of life created for them (though they never are given a choice), they will be forced onto it. The path of life created for Hailsham students, is this: to be born, or be cloned, and begin living at Hailsham (1). To have your mind constantly be filled with lectures about how important your body is, how important it is to fulfill your body’s urges (including, but not limited to sex) and how so crucial it is, more crucial than it would be to other people, that you don’t smoke and that you take good care of your body (2). To be encouraged to produce artwork and be creative, because 3-4 times a year, Madame, a mysterious Belgian or French woman who seems to be afraid of the students at Hailsham, will come in and judge the artwork you have produced, and take them to her “gallery” (3). As you grow up to the age of 16, learn that you will eventually leave Hailsham only to go to the Cottages (4). At the Cottages, you get a clearer sense of your future and what you were truly cloned to do; to donate. However, you will first become a carer, in which you will care for people who were also cloned, who followed a life virtually the same as your own. (5) Once the authorities decide that you have fulfilled your job as a carer, you will become a donor. Becoming a donor is your life’s purpose, and this is when you will “complete”, ie. die. You can complete up to four donations, but you will definitely die on the fourth. Most donors pass away on their second, or even first. (6)

The author doesn’t go into the details of the donations, but I imagine that your non-vital organs are harvested first; like one of your lungs, gallbladder, a kidney etc. But nevertheless, the fate that awaits a Hailsham student is a tragic one. Throughout the novel, Kathy has two main friends: Ruth and Tommy. Ruth is seemingly toxic when they’re kids, she purposefully embarrasses Kathy in front of their friends, and twists her words to make herself seem superior. However, they share many good moments when they’re alone, which is why Kathy considers Ruth to be her best friend. Tommy is another friend of Kathy’s; they seemingly share a special bond. Even when Tommy is excluded from most groups in Hailsham because of his temper, Kathy seems to “take him in” and be nice to him. Throughout the retelling of Kathy’s childhood, there are several allusions to Tommy and Kathy being right for each other and perhaps forming a romantic connection one day. But it never comes to this, in fact, Tommy and Ruth form a couple, and stay together for quite some time. One day in the Cottages, the three of them have a big fight about Tommy’s uncreative spirit and how he would embarras himself if the tried to somehow become creative after this point and showcase his art to people in the Cottages. Afterwards, they stop talking for a while, and Kathy decides to leave to become a carer. She gives a reserved goodbye to Tommy and Ruth, becomes a really good carer, and unlike most people, she stays a carer for quite a long time. She becomes so esteemed that she is sometimes allowed to pick her donors; the donors she will care for. One day, she picks Ruth. During this time, she also learns that Hailsham is being closed down.

Their relationship seems awkward at first, and grows more reserved with time. Kathy even considers asking to be reassigned to someone else, as she learns that Ruth has had trouble with her carers for quite a long time and most of them have asked to be reassigned. But one day, they learn about a boat that has hit the land that has become a small touristic landmark. Kathy decides to take Ruth since she seems to be quite ill and Kathy wants for them to grow closer. She also mentions how Tommy is a donor in an institution close to this one, and how they could take him to this small trip. They decide to do so, and the three of them reunite after some years apart.

On the way back, Ruth becomes apologetic and mentions how she always knew Tommy and Kathy were supposed to be together, but couldn’t see past her own jealousy to let them actually go forward with this. She gives them a piece of paper with Madame’s address on it, and mentions how she spent a lot of time and broke a lot of rules to be able to get this. She also mentions something about deferrals, a concept they became familiar with during their time at the Cottages. There was a rumor that if a couple were in love, and if they could actually prove this, then they would be given 3 years without worrying about being a donor or a carer, without a worry in the world, to enjoy one another’s company and spend time together. This is why Ruth had fished Madame’s address, so that Kathy and Tommy could have had a chance at the future she believed she had stole from them.

After Ruth “completes” and passes during her second donation, Tommy and Kathy go through with this plan. This is where they learn about some things they couldn’t make sense of during Hailsham. Firstly, they find out that this “deferrals” talk is nothing but a hopeful rumor invented by desperate students. Secondly, they learn that the importance of the artwork they produced was to show the sponsors of Hailsham, and to the people in the external world who viewed people like Ruth or Tommy or Kathy as soulless machines simply cloned for organs, that they indeed had souls. Because would a soulless person be able to produce such tender and beautiful artwork? And thirdly, they find out how it wasn’t only Madame that was scared of them, it was all the guardians. They simply did a better job at hiding their fear. After this visit, Tommy and Kathy continue to spend their time together, but slowly and surely, the time for Tommy’s fourth donation arrives. He asks for Kathy to stop being his carer as he doesn’t want his last weak moments to be spent with Kathy. But every second they spend together throughout the novel, there’s a sense of frailty and melancholy, because they reminisce all the time they could’ve had together. Even when they finish making love, Tommy mentions how he used to be so much better at this, but as his health had decreased with the donations, so had his ability to perform tasks he was once good at.

They say their goodbyes, and eventually Tommy passes away (though there is no real confirmation of this since Kathy isn’t there with him and doesn’t seek information about it afterwards – she just knows.) The novel ends with Kathy looking at the sunset and thinking about Tommy, about Ruth and Hailsham, about all she has lost and crying gently.

In the second part of this two-part blog post, I will be talking about what I derived from the novel! I hope I haven’t missed out on anything, feel free to write down any additions!