Never Let Me Go explores the temporary nature of life and the inevitable progression of time, presenting different feelings and reactions to these aspects of the human experience with different characters.
Of the three main characters, Ruth seems to be the most capable of leaving the past behind. Upon arriving at the Cottages, she makes a consistent attempt to align herself more closely with the veterans as opposed to Kathy and Tommy. Ruth, in turn, begins to imitate the habits and mannerisms of the veterans. Ruth’s somewhat forced change in personality exemplifies her ability to move forward with time - rather than hold onto the memories of who she was at Hailsham, she pursues relationships with those outside her original bubble. At the same time, the active choice to mimic the veterans’ behavior demonstrates that she is willing to make the changes necessary to adjust to their futures.
Kathy notices that many of the veterans’ idiosyncrasies were modeled after the behavior of those they watched on television, suggesting Ruth’s actions and change in behavior is fabricated in some way; believing her conduct needed to be corrected, Kathy resolves that it’s “time someone pointed [her behavior] out to her” (Ishiguro 83). The interpretations of Ruth’s transformation as fake suggest that Kathy judges Ruth for her change in personality. By deciding to confront her regarding these concerns, Kathy designates herself as the morally superior individual between the two of them, imposing her own perspective on their experience at the Cottages onto Ruth.
While their confrontation drives a wedge between their friendship, it also serves to highlight two distinct attitudes towards their overall circumstances. Ruth, on one hand, is able to look towards the future, accepting that the past sometimes needs to be forgotten in order to move on. Kathy, on the other hand, continues to hold on to her past at Hailsham, spending her little remaining time in adulthood retelling the events of her upbringing and even at times criticizing other characters for acting differently. The novel itself does not necessarily endorse either course of action, as each of them face difficulties as a result of their contrasting opinions. As part of her efforts to leave the past behind, Ruth “more or less drifted apart” from both Tommy and Kathy after leaving the Cottages (145). While moving forward with her life may have allowed her to find new fulfillment in her adult life, it caused Ruth to leave behind her two most central relationships. Once Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy finally reconcile, Ruth is already growing weak from her donations, emphasizing the limits of time in their world and how easily that time can be squandered. Though Kathy is able to appreciate the relationships that shaped her life by cherishing memories of the loved ones she lost, her compulsion to cling to the past inhibits her ability to experience the emotion of the present or hope for the future. Still, both characters' experiences hinge on the limit of time, and while they each operate differently under that constraint, understanding life’s fleeting nature may have led them to engage in their relationships differently, perhaps in a more honest and fulfilling manner.
The juxtaposition between Ruth and Kathy’s attitudes towards their short lives and what they choose to dwell on is not something I had thought about in such detail, although I agree that it is an important part of the story. Because the story is told from Kathy’s point of view, it is hard to look at her friends through an objective lens.
ReplyDeleteHowever, while Kathy has a bit of a superiority complex in regard to her attitude towards Hailsham, I think that Ruth has one too. When Kathy brings up Tommy and Ruth picking up on the mannerisms of the veteran couples, Ruth gets defensive. She says, “So that’s it..Ruth isn’t paying enough attention to her” (124). Ruth continues to talk about how she cannot help that she has moved on while Kathy is still stuck in the past.
Again, because the book is from Kathy’s viewpoint, her bias of the characters can make readers cautious of making opinions of the outer characters. With that being said, I think that the issue with the girls’ differing opinions is that they both believe their attitudes on life are more correct than the other. While Kathy thinks that holding on tight to her Hailsham memories and friends is most valuable in life, Ruth insists that growing up and moving on makes her more mature and advanced than Kathy.