Never Let Me Go

Themes, Issues, Motifs, and Symbols in Never Let Me Go Themes, Issues, Motifs: 1. commentary on human psychology/human nature through the donors:  the behavior of the donors as people who for the most part seem to accept their fates: one could almost say that they are complicit in their own deaths; they don’t do much to question the path that has been laid out for them—very few couples even make much of an effort to get deferrals  reasons for their failure to fight harder for themselves are deeply rooted in human nature: 1. the fear of death and their willful ignorance in not wanting to confront the facts of their lives 2. passivity in the face of authority and the group—they are reluctant to go against the course that has been set out for them; they have been indoctrinated to believe that it is “right” for them 3. depression and sense of futility in the face of what seems to be inevitable: many of them seem ready to die at an unnaturally young age because their sense of its inevitability has been deeply ingrained in them by experience  they take refuge in daydreams and preoccupation with other things and thus avoid having to confront the reality of their situation  in fact, this reflects universal human responses to death—all of us face death and might die at any time, and we react to that central fact of our existence in much the same way that they do 2. the paradox of Madame’s behavior; inherent irony in her and Miss Emily’s fight on the donors’ behalf:  her apparent disgust at the sight of them is more complicated than it first seems to the children: on the one hand, she does seem to see them as different than “regular people”; on the other hand, she is dedicated to fighting for their rights and is clearly moved by them—so part of her “disgust” reflects her sense of horror (and perhaps guilt) at how her society is cruelly exploiting them  for all of their good intentions and sense of self-righteousness, they have accepted the practice of creating organ