Kazuo Ishiguro, author of the book Never Let Me Go, states that friendship and love were intended to be the immense themes of this novel. In class a lot of people held the thought that Ishiguro didn’t necessarily get his point across. A common opinion was that the more interesting or overwhelming aspect of the plot was the fictitious world the characters were living their lives in, in place of the friendships they had or the love they felt. A world in which the bodies of cloned people grow up with only one purpose, donating their essential organs to those in need, is likely to pick up a good deal of interest. Ishiguro, oftentimes, seems to write this novel as though it takes place in the real world, which helps the reader focus more on his proposed themes. For example, the simple bickerings between Ruth and Kathy at Hailsham are typical interactions amongst young girls in our society today. Later on in the novel, when Ruth confesses to knowingly keeping Tommy and Kathy apart is a common selfish impulse of people now as well (232). Tommy buying the girl he likes a gift, children collecting little trinkets, secret clubs, and the different transitional phases between stages of life are all examples of normal human actions and events.
The majority of the book is dedicated to the progression of Ruth, Kathy and Tommy’s relationships between each other rather than the details regarding the made-up world they dwell in. In the final chapters, when Ms. Emily delves into further explanation on questions concerning Hailsham seems to be an afterthought just shoved into the final pages of the book by Ishiguro (260). I think this shows that Ishiguro really wasn’t concerned with appeasing the reader with an intricate, action-packed science fiction novel, but focusing his emphasis more on how the clones interact with one another. If he were, he would’ve spent significantly more time developing the specifics of their environment and would’ve most likely ended the novel in a different way. If Ishiguro’s goal was to write an exciting, conflicting story then the clones would’ve ended up rebelling against their society’s norms. Instead, Ishiguro’s ended the novel with all three clones succumbing to their superiors to showcase how everyone’s life can be considered short. These days, if someone dies at 60, people are inclined to think they’ve been robbed of precious time, even though this is double the amount of years the clones were likely to live. Ishiguro ends the story in a very intentional way showing that life isn’t about how much time you have, but how you spend that time with the people you love.
I definitely also noticed that it was easy for our discussions in class to get sidetracked by worrying about the practical nature of the cloning and world-building, and trying to figure out the mechanics of how the society functions. It's definitely an understandable trap to fall into, both because it's an interesting question and how we've gotten used to reading science fiction novels.
ReplyDeleteI personally didn't feel like Ms. Emily's explanation felt like an afterthought, because throughout the book Ishiguro had set up the idea of deferrals, hinted at the machinations behind the scenes at Hailsham, and the question of what the art was for. However I do agree that it is not the focus of the novel, and a much less extensive explanation than would be expected from a "truly science fiction novel," and that Ishiguro is indeed more focused on the human interactions. I wonder to what extent this is an intentional subversion of tropes, much like the decision to have the clones not rebel, and I suspect, as you mention, that the two decisions are linked with the type of story that he wanted to tell.
The world Ishiguro creates is at times perfectly mundane. You describe how the teenage interactions in particular are almost identical to humans in the real world. Someone else wrote about Kathy's function as an unreliable narrator, and how her perceptiveness makes us more trusting in the veracity of the events she relates. I think that this perceptiveness and tone is also at times the only thing distinguishing the novel's world from ours. I think it's really interesting how that level similarity informs the book's themes of love and friendship, and the value of time spent with those you hold dear.