Never Let Me Go Themes Flashcards
what are some typical conventions of the dystopian genre, used by Ishiguro?
- Verisimilitude
- The Dystopian ‘they’
- Poor living conditions, typically as the aftermath of a change
- Wider comment on social issues, such as climate, politics, war etc
- A relatable protagonist: the ‘everyman’
what are the main themes of NLMG?
- Memory
- Othering
- Fate
- Hope
- Identity
- Science
how do the clones exhibit passive acceptance?
- The clones do not try to escape Hailsham or the cottages, and do not ask questions; they write their essays and accept the poor conditions
- The clones follow the rules at Hailsham and try to be creative
- The clones don’t try to escape the Recovery Centres
- The clones don’t react to Miss Lucy’s outburst
- The clones accept there are no deferrals
- After Ruth’s outburst, she is resigned to her fate
- Chrissie and Rodney think things aren’t open to them as they aren’t from Hailsham
how do the clones resist in small ways?
- The search for the possibles
- Visiting Martin the carer
- Tommy not being creative
- Trying to get a deferral
what events in NLMG connect to the theme of the Dystopian genre?
- Hailsham and the lack of knowledge there
- The Recovery centres and the lack of freedom/being watched
where is verisimilitude used in NLMG?
- in references to places like ‘he mentioned some place in Dorset’ (5) and ‘that recovery centre in Dover’ (4)
- in the mundane decription of Hailsham
- in references to things like ‘Shakespeare’
where is the dystopian ‘they’ referred to in NLMG?
- Kathy uses euphemistic language, apparently created by the dystopian ‘they’ to make the cloning process more palatable to society
- The dystopian ‘they’ is alluded to in the quotes: ‘but actually they want me to go on for another 8 months’ (3), ‘they’ve been pleased with my work’ (3), ‘they’ve let me choose’ (4)
- ‘I can’t help picturing a swimmer taking a dive off the top only to crash into cement’ serves as a reminder that the dystopian ‘they’ can manipulate the clones’ perception of their freedom
- shadows are a reminder that the clones are constantly being surveyed
- ‘I tried to run, but the mud sucked my feet down. The mud was impeding him too’; The natural world becomes a metaphor for the cloning process as the mud becomes symbolic of the impact of the dystopian ‘they’
where do poor living conditions feature in NLMG?
- Ishiguro foreshadows the poor treatment of the other clones -‘and his face beneath the blotches went into a completely new kind of grimace’ (5)
- The Cottages
- The Recovery Centres
how does Ishiguro make a wider comment on social issues?
Ishiguro tackles the morality of cloning and scientific advancement, as well as society’s mistreatment of those who are different and passive acceptance
how does Ishiguro create an everyman figure
- Kathy is presented as a relatable protagonist through her characterisation - ‘okay, maybe I am boasting now’ (3)
- Anecdotal, conversational tone reflects the presentation of Kathy as a relatable protagonist, similar to the epistolary narration of Frankenstein.
what events in NLMG connect to the theme of memory?
- Kathy copes with the losses in her life by turning to memories of the past.
- Kathy is haunted by her past experiences e.g. perception of Madame as an authority figure
- Meeting Madame and Miss Emily; Kathy and Tommy act as a reminder for Madame of Hailsham
- The deterioration of Kathy and Tommy’s relationship; Perhaps Tommy doesn’t want to taint Kathy’s memories of him (as they saw Ruth in her weakened condition)
- nostalgia and reminiscing of childhood; Tommy and the clones’ childhood was characterised by naivety and innocence, creating a juxtaposition of the past and present
- Kathy is also an unreliable narrator and nonchronological; these idiosyncrasies reflect the unreliability of memory itself, which is necessarily incomplete and episodic.
what events in NLMG connect to the theme of othering?
- The isolation of the recovery centres
- the clones’ separation from their guardians
- the poor conditions of the cottages
- the hunt for the possible and the office
- the boat
- madame’s reactions to the clones
- madame and miss emily’s house/deferrals
- tommy’s distancing of kathy
what events in NLMG connect to the theme of science?
- the poor living conditions of the cottages
- the boat and impact of science
- deferrals and impact of science
- Tommy’s completion and Kathy at the end
what events in NLMG connect to the theme of fate?
- the deferrals and madame’s house
- the boat and inevitability
- the possible and inescapable fate
- tommy’s tantrum at the end
- passivity of kathy and tommy at the end
what events in NLMG connect to the theme of hope?
- the deferrals as hope for the future
- the possibles as hope for the future
- the loss of hope at the end
what events in NLMG connect to the theme of idenity?
- changing from Hailsham to the Cottages
- Hailsham as an identity
- the tape
- the possibles
- the boat
- their names and the recovery entres
- art as identity
what context connects to the theme of dystopia in NLMG?
- Ishiguro has stated in an interview that, unlike many other dystopian texts, he was not interested in the plight of the ‘brave slave’ but rather how easily people accept their fate and do not try to ‘escape’
- In a BBC Radio 4 interview in 2021, Ishiguro claimed that Kathy is narrating the story to another clone.
- Ishiguro was known to have been influenced by other dystopian texts such as David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas written in 2004
what context connects to the theme of othering in NLMG?
- Ishiguro moved to England from Japan at the age of 5. Ishiguro has talked on a number of occasions about the isolating experience of attending a school where he was the only non-white person.
- Before becoming a writer, Ishiguro worked for a homeless charity, as well as being a social worker.
what context connects to the theme of memory in NLMG?
Ishiguro was inspired by classic Gothic novels: “I have loved Jane Eyre and Villette […] for some time, but […] when I reread them about three years ago, I suddenly realized how much I had ripped off from those two books […] the first-person narrator […] appearing to confide, very intimately, with the reader and then you […] find actually that there is some […] hugely important thing that the narrator has just held back”
what context connects to the theme of science in NLMG?
- 1997, Dolly the Sheep was cloned by the Roslin Institute in Scotland. This was the first cloning of a mammal and raised concerns about how far science would go with the technology.
- 1998, the detailed study of mouse stem cells led to the discovery of a method to obtain stem cells from human embryos and grow the cells in a lab (human embryonic stem cells). This caused a great deal of concern amongst certain groups who were worried about what this might lead to in terms of human cloning, use of DNA, and the ethics of cloning.
- 1998, Richard Seed (American physicist) stated his intention to clone a human before any laws could be passed.
- In the early 21st century, there was a shortage of organ donors. Never Let Me Go was published in 2005.
- 2005, the UN called for a ban on human cloning, calling it ‘contrary to human dignity.’
what context connects to the theme of fate in NLMG?
Ishiguro has stated in an interview that, unlike many other dystopian texts, he was not interested in the plight of the ‘brave slave’ but rather how easily people accept their fate and do not try to ‘escape’ - Ishiguro’s parents grew up in WWII Japan, living in a society that went along with fascist views after the country allied itself with the Nazis.
what context connects to the theme of hope in NLMG?
- Before becoming a writer, Ishiguro worked for a homeless charity, as well as being a social worker.
- Ishiguro’s parents grew up in WWII Japan, living in a society that went along with fascist views after the country allied itself with the Nazis.
what context connects to the theme of identity in NLMG?
- Social Bonding Theory
- Developed in the 1960s by Albert Bandura
- States that individuals develop who they are through environmental factors, namely the imitations of role models
