Never Let Me Go Character Analysis

A Restrained “Soul”: Clones Alienated in England

Technology has a huge importance in our societies and as it dominates our daily lives, it has taken control over how we interact with others and how we learn. This need for technology can take us away from seeing the value of human life. Clones are thought not to have souls, to be mechanical and not capable of forming relationships or of developing strong emotions as humans would. Such a claim is made in order to justify the decision to use them for their organs, which may be unethical but in this novel is normalized. Humans in general in this novel further emphasize the point that they are cruel to those they consider “subhuman”. Never Let Me Go reveals that clones are dehumanized in order
Ruth, with her insecurities, is an example of this as Kathy describes, “...she did things to impress the veterans at our expense” (Ishiguro 130). Through this, clones have to copy from the television that is available in the Cottages, which displays human gestures that Ruth imitates with Tommy in order to adhere to the expectations from the veterans in an attempt to fit in and be more mature. This also applies to how they have a fate that they cannot oppose and because they accept this fate they are chained to this social expectation. “Your lives are set out for you...That’s what each of you was created to do. You need to remember that. If you’re to have decent lives, you have to know who you are and what lies ahead of you, every one of you” (Ishiguro
Much like humans, clones spend most of their time daydreaming, imagining how their futures will be like but are held back by society’s rules. In the case of clones, they believe that their possibles may predict their outcomes. However, limited time and eventual death are both guaranteed for both clones and humans. “One big idea behind finding your model was that when you did, you’d glimpse your future...you’d get some insight into who you were deep down...you’d see something of what your life held in store” (Ishiguro 139). Due to this, they cannot fulfill their dreams of having “normal jobs”, Ruth who wants to work in an office like her possible will have no choice but to accept what has been chosen for them, a predetermined fate. Through this they are alienated from society in having a predetermined fate, one which is cruel and imposing upon them the reality of death at a young age, which depends on how many donations they can live through… Ruth isn’t the only one who wishes for another future, the deferral is the symbol of a false hope for clones such as Chrissie and Rodney. “Three years just to themselves, because they could prove they were properly in love” (Ishiguro 153). Humans and clones alike, cannot avoid death… just as clones dream and do other things such as fulfilling their duties,