Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: Themes

Inevitability of Life/Mortality

Miss Lucy is the only guardian who is blatantly honest with the students.  She tells them that their future is predetermined.  While Chrissie, Rodney, Ruth, Tommy, Kathy, and probably countless others before them have tried to find a way out of the system, they all ended up exactly where Miss Lucy said they would be.  While they all had very different lives, they all ultimately led to the same destination: death.  While the originals created the clones to prolong their lives and escape chronic illness, their lives still lead to death.  The point of the clones was to show how they had to face the idea of mortality at a young age.  They need to feel a sense of satisfaction with the way they live their lives in their 20s, while the originals had time to reach that point in life.

In the end, we are all mortal.  Whether we choose to deny/avoid it or face it head on, death will eventually catch up to us.  Whether we use our clones' organs to live longer and healthier, or we are the ones being slaughtered for the greater good, we will all eventually die and we need to come to terms with that.

Things to think about:

the tiktok that asked what you would do if you were chased by a snail that would instantly kill you if it touched you

The movie It Follows

Humanity

Humanity is another big one.  It kind of overlaps with the third one though.

What does it mean to be human?

While the general "original" public knows the existence of the clones, they choose to ignore it because they are being used to serve the greater good.  The clones' organs are being used to save humans and prolong their lifespans and cure illness.  The also choose to ignore it to avoid confronting the cruelty of raising clone humans just to slaughter them. The originals would rather tell themselves that their miracle organs come from some mysterious place rather than from a clone.  They refuse to acknowledge that clones are just as human as them.  However, the way the clones live their lives defies that.  Like normal people, the "originals", they sing, play sports, paint, sing.  They dream of romance, have passions, and are creative.  Whether you're a humanities girl or STEM person, you have to admit that passion and creativity make people feel alive.

Things to think about

what makes us human?

what makes us better than animals that were bred to be slaughtered?

are we any better than animals?

Factory Farming/Exploitation

The humanity of the clones, however, also give an illusion of control.  The creativity and freedom they have, make them feel that they have freedom over their lives.

At the end of the day, the clones are nothing but farm animals being exploited.  Hailsham is a humane farm, meaning they are raised comfortably, with good food, environment, and access to enrichment.  Tommy states that the other schools were like battery farms, a.k.a. factory farms where animals/clones are raised in poor conditions, in over crowded, dark spaces with minimal nutrients and enrichment to grow comfortably.  So while Hailsham treating the students as humans instead of incubators could be applauded, you could make the case that they are simply attempting to justify their exploitation because they aren't as bad as the other farms.

If you're still here

1. The Hailsham students never rebelled or ran away because it's all they've ever known.  If a random stranger randomly told you that your mom kills and eats children, you wouldn't believe them immediately.  That's because you've never questioned your mother's existence before.  It's liek that.  Hailsham is all they've ever known.  How would they rebel if they have no idea what they're rebelling against.

2. They didn't question the fact that they're organ incubators because, according to Tommy, they were told these things before they were mature or smart enough to fully understand what they meant.  And by the time they realized, it would be too late.

3. The guardians don't donate their organs because they aren't clones.  They're just normals people working in that industry.

4. The guardian names are important.  Miss Lucy was a bit strict and brutally honest about their fates because she believed that while they weren't "humans", they had every bit of humanity to make them worthy of respect and honesty.  Miss Emily was the kind, headmistress who gave the students the illusion of autonomy over their lives.  She wasn't evil though.  She ran a humanitarian farm where she gave the students some freedom before donating their organs.