If you are looking for a haunting world where humanity collides with dystopia in a narrative transcending its genre, Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go” is the novel for you!
Exploring identity, mortality, and ethics, the story blurs the lines between compassion and destiny. Intrigued yet? Dive in!
🎧If you want to get in the atmosphere of this book, listen to Judy Bridgewater’s “Never Let Me Go” song that inspired its title! 🎧
- Never Let Me Go – Summary
- Never Let Me Go – Characters
- Never Let Me Go – Themes
- Never Let Me Go – Thoughts and Spoilers
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
Never Let Me Go – Summary
“Never Let Me Go” begins with an ordinary boarding school (Hailsham), filled with ordinary kids. They learn all about staying healthy, exercising, eating right, and not smoking. Their teachers are strict and impress upon them the importance of creating art to reveal themselves and their soul, a way of distinguishing themselves.
Though their existence there is not remarkable and the kids are clearly not wealthy, their schedule in school allows for joy and friendship. Kathy, Ruth and Tommy become, in time, such friends, having their relationship endure even after leaving Hailsham before each one decides his own path.
The beauty of the narrative lies in this exploration of individuality, creativity and uncertainty – the typical developmental crises kids go through while growing up. Their questions are, in a way, the questions every teenager has. Yet, these teenagers are also different. Their battle with facing adulthood is greater.
They ultimately have to face the fact that their destiny is predetermined. No matter what they dream about, no dream can come true. Their fate is sealed.
Of course, they don’t fully realise that when they are young. They know what the future holds, but they don’t really understand it until they leave school and start living independently, facing real-world challenges. Given how isolated they were in school, this world is scary for them and they are all socially awkward.
What they do know they will face sooner rather than later is death. This warps their way of viewing the world and their expectations of what they can achieve, if anything, in the meantime.
As the characters mature, so does the complexity of their relationships. The once-strong bonds between Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy evolve into a poignant love triangle that adds emotional depth to the narrative. Threads of love, jealousy, and self-discovery are skillfully added into the fabric of the story.
The trio’s quest for understanding propels them to confront the harsh realities of their existence and the ethical dilemmas posed by a society that views them as mere commodities. The novel’s atmosphere is rich with tension, the weight of their fates hanging heavily over every interaction and decision.
Never Let Me Go – Characters
Kathy, the compassionate narrator, grapples with the reality of her existence, portraying resilience amid heart-wrenching circumstances. She is also the one who seems to observe and understand more than others.
Her way of delaying the inevitable is through care for others. She is willing to do a lonely and sad job, just to be able to live and experience just a little bit more.
Ruth is complex and flawed. Her actions often blur the lines between friendship and self-interest. However, to compensate, her magnetic charisma draws others to her, including Kathy and Tommy.
Her journey is one of growth and self-awareness as she navigates the complexities of love, jealousy, and the weight of their shared destiny. Ruth’s character serves as a catalyst for much of the novel’s emotional turmoil, challenging the bonds of friendship and testing the limits of loyalty.
Tommy is portrayed as a gentle soul whose innocence and vulnerability endear him to both Kathy and Ruth. His journey is one of profound transformation as he struggles to find his place in a world that defines him solely by his predetermined purpose.
Tommy’s character arc is marked by moments of heartache and triumph as he confronts the harsh realities of his existence with courage and determination.
Ishiguro crafts all his characters to resonate with readers, their struggles echoing the novel’s overarching themes.
Never Let Me Go – Themes
“Never Let Me Go” delves into profound themes—identity, love, ethics, and mortality. The novel’s exploration of sacrifice and acceptance lingers, leaving an indelible mark on the psyche.
What struck me as the most important theme, however, was destiny. Ishiguro prompts readers to question what defines humanity because the characters confront a predetermined fate that challenges the conventional boundaries of existence.
Knowing their death will come sooner than for normal people, doesn’t stop Kathy, Ruth or Tommy from experiencing life with ups and downs, beauty and friendship. Though they can’t have real families, thus excluding an important human experience, they find family in their friendship.
Their life isn’t all that different from what every one of us experiences as we grow up. The existence of a predetermined destiny is received with mixed feelings: on the one hand, there is the idea that nothing they do matters in the end and they have to accept whatever comes, but on the other hand, there is the idea that everything can, at least, be delayed. It’s a hope that something can be negotiated.
Of course, the reality is nothing can be done. Just as normal people can’t escape their death, Ruth, Kathy and Tommy have to ultimately surrender to their destiny.
Never Let Me Go – Thoughts and Spoilers
If you haven’t read the book by now, time to stop and come back when you do, so we can talk about it! Hopefully, by now, you have a clear idea if this book is for you!
Ishiguro’s masterful storytelling and nuanced character development captivated me. But, more than that, just like “Klara and the Sun“, it left me with questions and things to really think about myself.
I feel there are many interesting parts to the story and one of them is the idea that the three simply accept their fate. They are clones so, by their nature, they are givers. They will go through painful surgeries and donate organs until nothing is left. That is a sombre fate. To realise you were created just so that another human could live longer must be terrible, especially since your experiences are similar to those of real humans.
Clones can love, laugh, and enjoy life, friendship, music, even sex! There is no difference between them and regular humans. I think Ishiguro goes out of his way to make us see that and make us part of the painful growing-up experience that is identical to ours.
Yet, they are all treated differently. Regular humans can’t seem to know how to act around them, most don’t even care about their existence or problems.
It’s not the first time we see this behaviour from humans when it comes to their creation! In Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, the “monster” doesn’t even get a name from its creator. Viktor Frankenstein can’t even look at him. He feels the monster is ugly, yet he is the ugly one for his behaviour.
Though Viktor Frankenstein gets punished, here, the clones accept their fate. Humans go on even closing the Hailsham school, the last place where the clones were treated humanely.
I loved this perspective on humans – it’s like an alarm trigger. We haven’t learned anything in the last 200 years. We still feel everything is owed to us and we have nothing of the responsibilities that come with creation. Hopefully, we’ll be better than the scenario here.
Conclusion
“Never Let Me Go” stands as a literary triumph, seamlessly blending dystopia with human drama. Ishiguro’s exploration of identity and mortality resonates long after the final page. A haunting masterpiece that invites readers to ponder the boundaries of compassion and the fragility of destiny.
I can’t wait to read more of Ishiguro’s books, as they have a unique way of making me think more deeply about life!
Have you read any of his books? Which one should I try next?
P.S. If you made it here, thank you for reading the entire article! As a bonus, here are my takes on some of the readers’ frequently asked questions about “Never Let Me Go”. This part is full of spoilers!
You can find the book here:
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is “Never Let Me Go” dystopian?
“Dystopian Literature is one of the best genres to understand man’s inhumanity to his fellow men.” This is exactly what “Never Let Me Go” does!
“Never Let Me Go” explores the darkest parts of the human behaviour. This imaginary world serves us to better understand the human mind and human nature. It echoes our society’s current problems with mistreatment of people who don’t belong in our group, people who are different. It helps us see the importance of taking responsibility.
For all these reasons, “Never Let Me Go” is a dystopian novel.
Why did Hailsham fail?
Hailsham’s failure was inevitable. People use clones for spare parts. Just like we can’t have abattoirs with glass walls, we can’t seem to accept our own cruelty. We don’t like what we do, but we can’t stop.
We choose comfort over truth. The truth was that clones were no different – if given the opportunity, they were loving, kind and creative. You can’t think of actually using a creative human being, so you dehumanize it as much as possible.
Why is Hailsham so important to Kathy?
Hailsham’s importance is also its reason for failing. Hailsham was the opportunity for clones to show and to live their humanity, with all that it involves: love, music, friendship, sex, fears, and hopes. All three of the main characters seem to develop there and keep fond memories of it, as all humans do about the places they grew up in.
Kathy’s nostalgia about childhood and her memories, all involving Hailsham, is one of the things that humanize her.
Is Never Let Me Go a banned book?
Yes! “Never Let Me Go” was banned from libraries in Florida, along with almost 700 other books.
This saddens me because the more a book is challenging our perspectives, the more it needs to be discussed, with children in particular.
Have any more questions? Let me know!
That’s it for me! Let me know what you think of the book!
Happy reading!
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