'Never Let Me Go' Context Flashcards
What was the impact of Thatcherism?
Many vulnerable sections of society were dispossessed/given strangulated governmental support due to brutal economic policies put in place to combat war debt.
How does Thatcherism influence this novel?
Her brutal economic policies targeted mostly the vulnerable. As the novel revolves around this time period, Thatcherism could be a motivating factor for people to be cloned.
Where did Nazi experimentation happen?
Ravensbrück concentration camp.
What kind of experiments happened within Ravensbrück concentration camp?
Bone, muscle, nerve regeneration, and bone transplantation from one human to another.
Who did the Nazi’s experiment on?
Jews and prisoners of war: groups seen as less than human.
How did Nazi experimentation influence Ishiguro’s novel?
Ishiguro says that ‘Never Let Me Go’ is an “alternate history” of England if the Germans won WWII. Through this, the novel is speculative fiction, and the roles of the clones are very similar to the roles of the people Nazis experimented on.
What did totalitarian regimes of the 20th century draw attention to?
Mechanisms of power and brutal enforcing of hierarchies.
How are totalitarian regimes of the 20th century reflected in this novel?
There is a very fixed and constantly enforced hierarchy between the humans and clones, which reveals the mechanisms of power favoured by totalitarian regimes from the period outlined.
When was the Human Genome Project?
1990-2003.
What scientific advancements came from the Human Genome Project?
It allowed scientists to identify the causes of many diseases, like several types of cancer.
What breakthroughs came from stem cell research?
Used to generate tissue to advance the study of human diseases.
Beating heart cells were made outside of the body.
Burn patients were treated with lab grown skin.
How is stem cell research relevant to ‘Never Let Me Go’?
It poses lots of moral quandaries, as its primary source comes from embryos. This creates conflict between morals and science and reflects the deeply morally grey nature of the clones.
Why were transgenic animals created?
For the purpose of using them in medical testing.
Who was the first transgenic animal who carried a human gene?
Herman the Bull (1990).
When was Dolly the Sheep?
1996.
Which morally grey scientific advancements influenced Ishiguro?
Transgenic animals, and stem cell research.
Both use (arguably) life for medical testing and advancement, and are therefore morally questionable.
Ishiguro, however, takes this further by using human life (if clones are to be counted as such), as opposed to embryos or animals, pushing the ethical limits of ‘for the greater good’.
What did scientific advancements from the 90s and 2000s spur conversations on?
The possibility of creating human life artificially, beginning with the creation of human organs to replace defective ones.
When was Sophia the Robot granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia?
2017.
How does Sophia the Robot influence the book?
She speak worldwide conversations about what qualifies an entity for human rights; similar discussions of humanity are related to the clones.
What are key conventions of the dystopic genre?
Pervasive authority of nameless powers.
Concept of panoptic surveillance.
Rebellion against oppressive powers.
A journey of discovering the ‘truth’ about the oppressive system.
How well does ‘Never Let Me Go’ conform to key conventions of the dystopic genre?
Features the pervasive authority of nameless powers, and concept of panoptic surveillance.
However, rebellion against oppressive powers is extremely limited (deferrals), and the journey to discover the ‘truth’ (Ch. 22) is limited as well as utterly lacking in catharsis.
How does Ishiguro describe his novel?
‘Speculative fiction’, an ‘alternate history’ of England if the Nazis had won WWII.
What are key conventions of the gothic genre which Ishiguro employs?
Sense of dread and horror, use of mirrors/windows/reflective thingies to show identity.
What is simulacra?
Simulations of the real, rather than authentic experiences.
