The theme of inevitability of loss is a strong theme seen throughout Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go through Kathy and her focus on her past memories rather than the future. Kathy focuses on what she once was through her memories at Hailsham. Although every human will experience loss and death, the clones in Never Let Me Go experience it much sooner and more often. They gain relationships and have real human experiences and then they lose every single person they know. The clones are expected to be able to deal with it because their only purpose is to donate their organs to people of the outside world, however they are clearly affected by the losses they are inevitably going to experience. This is seen when the rumor of the deferrals is talked about. Chrissie stated, “Three years just to themselves, because they could prove they were properly in love” (Ishiguro 153). The deferrals could make their life a little longer and their desire for this illustrates how they have the human wish to expand their life even if it meant only a few more years with their loved one.
Kathy reminiscing on the moments of Hailsham are mostly happy and she talks frequently about her time there. She formed real bonds and connections with people at Hailsham and it was easy to recall memories because her life there was consistent. Also, at the time none of her friends were donating organs so she hasn't experienced loss yet. This is seen when she is talking to a doner about fading memories. Kathy says, “I was talking to one of my donors a few days ago who was complaining about how memories, even your most precious one, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don't go along with that. The memories I value most, I don't see them fading. I lost Ruth, then I lost Tommy, but I won't lose my memories of them” (Ishiguro 286). This is Ishiguro humanizing Kathy and showing that she understands the loss in her life. Kathy has lost every part of her past and the only thing she has left to hold onto are her memories.
The characters of the novel also experience the loss of control. They are forced to understand that they are going to eventually die and they have no control over their own life. However, this brings in the ethical problem. The characters have real emotions. Tommy throws temper tantrums when he is younger, they feel sadness, happiness and even love. They are essentially identical to humans. Their lives are preplanned and they are forced to suffer with the knowledge that their lives are short and the relationships they make are only going to lead to grief and loss.
I agree that the theme of inevitable loss is central to the novel. This theme is first presented on page six when one of Kathy’s donors decides to use Kathy’s memories of Hailsham to cope with his inevitable death. Kathy thought this donor wanted her memories to “really sink in, so that maybe during those sleepless nights with the drugs and the pain and exhaustion, the line would blur between [her] memories and what were his” (6). To further this theme, Ishiguro shows that even if a clone is able to regain what they once had, they will lose it again in the end. Kathy loses Tommy and Ruth at the cottages and briefly regains contact when she becomes a carer, but loses them again when they complete their donations.
ReplyDeleteYour choice to include deferrals in your discussion of inevitable loss strengthens your claim that lacking control is what makes loss so inevitable. When Ruth tracks down Madame’s address and gives it to Tommy, she plants a seed of desperation in the hearts of Tommy and Kathy. This desperation makes them toy with the idea that they have the power to prolong their time together. They feel so powerless when Madame tells them deferrals do not exist that Tommy throws a temper tantrum. Kathy and Tommy then stand together “for what seem[s] like ages, not saying anything, just holding each other,” realizing that because they have no power over their lives, they are doomed to lose each other sooner rather than later (274).