Discomfort and Resignation in ‘Never Let Me Go’
This short essay contains spoilers for Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel Never Let Me Go. It was written in November 2020 for an assignment for my Multimodal Communications class.
Towards the end of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, Miss Emily reveals the outside world's truth to her former students. "For a long time you were kept in the shadows, and people did their best not to think about you," she tells them. "And if they did, they tried to convince themselves you weren't really like us. That you were less than human, so it didn't matter." (Ishiguro, Ch. 22)
Miss Emily's project, Hailsham, emerged from a post-war empathetic social climate that advocated for treating clones—valuable scientific test subjects—humanely. But this success was short-lived: Hailsham was forced to close after the public's stance on clones shifted from sympathetic to unsettled. Like the people in the outside world, the clones are uncomfortable with the unethical system they are a part of. To avoid the subject of their futures or origins, they distract themselves with galleries, rumors, and childish fantasies of 'deferral,' all while quietly accepting their function in society.
To be human, Never Let Me Go suggests, is to ignore the dirty truth for the sake of the greater good.
Even at an early age, Hailsham students do everything in their power to deflect difficult subjects. Kathy describes realizing that there exist "people out there, like Madame, who don't hate you or wish you any harm, but who nevertheless shudder at the very thought of you—of how you were brought into this world and why—and who dread the idea of your hand brushing against theirs." (Ch. 3)
The students' first introduction to an outsider is Madame, who is physically repulsed by them. At the tender age of five or six, the students understand at a certain level that they are fundamentally different from the people outside, people who don't want to be reminded that clones exist. However, the students refrain from talking about Madame's odd behavior. The topic becomes almost taboo, something that "would get us into territory we weren't ready for yet." (Ch. 4) This reflects a common pattern: in light of new information that compromises the status quo, the students become embarrassed and quickly change topics.
Ruth's monologue about 'possibles' in Chapter 14 marks the first time a character addresses the taboo head-on. The scene arrives at a pivotal point in the story when the students begin to question their own identities in the context of their origins. "Do you think [the gallery owner] would've talked to us like that if she'd known what we really were?" Ruth asks the group. "What do you think she'd have said if we'd asked her? 'Excuse me, but do you think your friend was ever a clone model?' She'd have thrown us out."
The word 'clone' isn't used in the novel until this very moment, and for a good reason: Ishiguro wants the reader to feel shocked at the uncharacteristic candor of Ruth's remarks, but not surprised at the content. Like the students at Hailsham, the reader has also been 'told and not told' about the outside world's attitudes.
Ruth's monologue is a rare glimpse behind the students' shroud of secrecy and serves as a painful reminder of their place in the cruel system.
Even as the students leave to become carers and donors and step into their predestined roles, they still cling to one last, desperate distraction – the fabled 'deferral.' After visiting the boat, Ruth (who has already made her first donation) tells Kathy that she should pursue a deferral with Tommy. In response, Kathy says:" 'It's too late for all that now.' I'd started to sob again. 'It's stupid even thinking about it. As stupid as wanting to work in that office up there. We're all way beyond that now.'" (Ch. 19)
This scene is poignant because it demonstrates the characters' raw emotions and a prevailing sense of resignation. Realizing how little time they have left, the trio bitterly remembers the silly dreams they once had for their futures. They all know, deep down, that there's nothing they can do to change what's been set out for them. And yet, Ruth convinces Kathy and Tommy to visit Madame and ask for a deferral. Though it is merely a chance to prolong the inevitable and is unlikely to exist in the first place, the deferral becomes immensely important because it is the last real 'distraction' between the characters and their reality.
In Chapter 22, Miss Emily dashes Kathy and Tommy's hopes of a deferral and reveals Hailsham's true purpose. But more importantly, she demonstrates how the people on the outside and the clones share a commonality: discomfort for the roles they fill. She describes how "the world didn't want to be reminded how the donation programme really worked. They didn't want to think about you students, or about the conditions you were brought up in. In other words, my dears, they wanted you back in the shadows."
Much like how the Hailsham students try not to discuss their dark futures, choosing to focus on more light-hearted subjects, the people of the world don't want to be reminded of the origins of the organs that contribute so much to scientific advancement. They are contented with viewing the clones as something inhuman, lacking souls or personality or dreams. Alternatively, people recognize that the clones are sentient beings but argue that the ends justify the means. Sentiocentrism and utilitarianism help society rationalize its inaction. They choose to hide the clones "in the shadows" rather than address the system's gross injustice, comparable to how the students at Hailsham focus on their art and literature rather than plan to escape.
Even after discovering the truth about their world, Kathy and Tommy still go out of their way to avoid the subject and maintain a sense of normalcy. "We hardly discussed our meeting with Miss Emily and Madame on the journey back. Or if we did, we talked only about the less important things, like how much we thought they'd aged, or the stuff in their house." (Ch. 22) This is followed by descriptions of passing countryside in darkness as Kathy and Tommy drive back to the donor center.
This short scene, though seemingly insignificant, speaks volumes. Kathy and Tommy are faced with a giant elephant in the room. But instead of addressing the shocking details that Miss Emily revealed, Kathy and Tommy simply discuss the items in Miss Emily's house, demonstrating the great lengths that people will go to feign a sense of well-being. The car continues its lonely path down the dark byways to return to the donor center, and the reader can imagine Kathy and Tommy heading towards their predestined futures as mere passengers, afraid to disrupt the natural course of things.
Ursula K. Le Guin notes in "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" (1973): "Their tears at the bitter injustice dry when they begin to perceive the terrible justice of reality, and to accept it." The outsiders in Never Let Me Go understand the unethical nature of the donation program ('the bitter injustice') but have collectively decided that it must exist for scientific advancement ('the terrible justice').
The clones, too, understand the importance of their roles. Unlike many dystopias, the novel's immoral system is an unchallenged one. To make their lives easier to cope with, both sides put effort into distracting from the dirty truth. Their shared humanity allows them to put aside their individual emotions of guilt and terror to partake in a communal purpose.
References
Ishiguro, K. (2005). Never Let Me Go. Penguin Random House. https://books.apple.com/us/book/never-let-me-go/id419951993
Le Guin, U. (1973). The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. Harper Perennial. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas/id1185660246