So Long, Farewell, I Bid Thee Adieu! (Chapters 22 and 23/ Pages 256-288)

"The fantasy never got beyond that - I didn't let it - and though the tears rolled down my face, I wasn't sobbing or out of control. I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, to drive off to wherever it was I was supposed to be."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 288

Well, I am just so sad that these summer reading blogs are over........

Did you like that display of sarcasm? Maybe it could be one of my terms if I missed one.

But anyway, on to the overview of Never Let Me Go:


Overall, I didn't really like the book. It wasn't terrible, and I have definitely read worse (hello, The Pearl), but I thought it was a lot more depressing than it needed to be. I just felt kind of sad throughout the whole thing. There was too much struggle and not enough happiness or inspiration to balance it out - in Part One, it was very angsty, in Part Two, you could just feel the relationships crumbling, and in Part Three, everyone died. However, it was very interesting and I found myself wanting to keep reading to find out what would happen.

As for the last two chapters, everything really seemed to fall into place. It all made sense, and there weren't any holes in the plot - that was very satisfying. I didn't like how everyone died unhappy, though; it was as if no personal needs were really complete. Ruth felt awful about how bad of a person she had been, Tommy was no doubt sad about his and Kathy's split, and Kathy had to keep living in the midst of death knowing that that was the only thing waiting for her in the end. I just felt so bad that the clones had no way of having a fulfilling life.

This book seems to be a bit more confusing than Brave New World. I'm not exactly sure what Ishiguro is trying to convey. I guess I would say that I learned to appreciate the friends I have. I learned to not hold anything back, because it may be too late later, even if I get another chance. Even one action could completely alter my future. The last thing I would say I learned is that with progress comes sacrifice. Sometimes, we can't go back once we have learned something new, and there are repercussions of that - both positive and negative. There are instances when we just have to live with the negative effects, because the positives outweigh them. We all have burdens, but we just need to overcome those to make the best possible life for ourselves.

Well, that concludes the summer portion of my AP Lit blogging. I will see you all bright and early on Monday!

Please Just Give Us What We Want. (Chapters 20 and 21/ Pages 237-255)

"Yes, we're doing his now and I'm glad we're doing it now. But what a pity we left it so late."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 239

FINALLY. Tommy and Kathy are together at last, but just when they've reconnected, they say it's sad. Savor the time you have left, people - you aren't getting any younger. And they aren't even that old, for that matter! I thought their time together would be this huge happy scene where they understand how meant to be they are and how happy they are that they could have these last moments, but NO. I found the scene to be very unsatisfying and really disappointing. Mr. Costello, I know you commented on one of my blogs last time and asked me if all classics had to have sad endings. And although there are definitely exceptions for every situation, I would say that, yeah, about 95% of books we read in school have bad endings. It's realistic and educational. But I don't read to experience realism - if I want to experience that, I would just go out and do something. I personally love reading, but to be honest, I think that's one reason why people are starting to watch more and more movies - for the happy part. Take for example, 80's movies.

Sixteen Candles: The guy you like who has ignored you for the past year is not going to dump his super-hot, drunk girlfriend, save you from your sister's wedding reception, then bake you a cake. It's not real, but we LOVE IT.


Can't Buy Me Love: People will not clap for you once you make a super-embarrassing speech in the lunchroom about how being popular doesn't matter and isn't really cool. At best, after that everyone will taunt you for a week and then you get to resume your life as a below-average wannabe. Also, people do not ride away on lawn mowers. It's not real, but it's acceptable in an 80's movie.

Say Anything...: The boy you love who you irrationally dumped is not going to come to your window and blast the song you lost your virginity to out of the boombox he is holding above his head. It's not real, but has become a famous "take-me-back" scene.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off: You are not going to make it home with only seconds to spare before your parents walk in after having the most awesome sick day ever - including your own musical number - and your grudge-holding sister is not going to save you from the evil principal set out to destroy your graduation. It's not real, but it's extremely entertaining.


Dirty Dancing: Your summer romance is not going to come back to your country club's talent show to have one final dance with you and prove that you really can do that lift. At best, he'll leave and you'll never see him again, and at worst, he'll get arrested for knocking up a teenager. It's not real, but we don't care! It's happy.

They're Coo Coo for Coco Puffs... (Chapter 19/ Pages 218-236)

"As soon as I said this - as soon as I mentioned Madame - I realised I'd made a mistake. Ruth looked up at me and I saw something like triumph flash across her face. You see it in films sometimes, when one person's pointing a gun at another person, and the one with the gun's making the other one do all kinds of things. Then suddenly there's a mistake, a tussle, and the gun's with the second person. And the second person looks at the first person with a gleam, a kind of can't-believe-my-luck expression that promises all kinds of vengeance."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 231

Okay, I've decided that it's not just Ruth who is crazy. Kathy has some problems in the brain area, too, apparently. Everything that happens between these two seems to be taken so seriously. This whole paragraph above just proves exactly what I'm trying to say - Kathy thinks that their fights are so extreme it's like holding a gun to the other's head? That's a  little extreme! I don't know about you, but my friends and I never fight like this.  We occasionally have little things, and maybe one or two big fights have ever come up, but it's never been such a power struggle like Kathy and Ruth's relationship is. I'm really questioning why they are still friends after all this time of just trying to make each other feel horrible, and even after a long time period spent away from each other! You really think they'd be over it by now. Plus, it turned out to not even be a big deal because Ruth was just trying to reunite Tommy and Kathy. I tell you, these two drive me nuts.

Grey's Anatomy... With a Twist / Synecdoche (Chapter 18/ Pages 207-217)

"Some carers, though, their whole attitude lets them down. A lot of them, you can tell, are just going through the motions, waiting for the day they're told they can stop and become donors. It really gets me, too, the way so many of them "shrink" the moment they step inside a hospital. They don't know what to say to the whitecoats, they can't make themselves speak up on behalf of their donor. No wonder they end up feeling frustrated and blaming themselves when things go wrong."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 208

The readers now follow Kathy through the third phase of her life. Being a carer has always come naturally to her, although it has been more difficult for some of her peers. An example of synecdoche is when Kathy refers to the doctors as "whitecoats." Using this term helps the reader understand that the carers do not think of doctors as they would a fellow carer. In a way, describing the doctors as only something they wear makes them something else, almost a different, subhuman breed. This is ironic, considering that the carers are the ones who actually were artificially created. This separation helps the reader understand why the carers feel as if they can't talk to the doctors - because they know they are different. It must be hard for the carers to go into a hospital and work with people who aren't the same as they are and know that they will soon be in the position in which the people they care for are.

It's Gonna Take a Lot to Drag Me Away From You / Implied Metaphor (Chapter 17/ Pages 197-203)

"It never occurred to me that our lives, until then so closely interwoven, could unravel and separate over a thing like that."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 197

Chapter seventeen is the last chapter in Part Two, so we know that Kathy's Cottage experience will soon be ending. This is also the chapter that concerns her falling out with Ruth and Tommy. The implied metaphor is about their relationships suddenly fading away. Metaphors give the readers an image to replace an idea. In this implied metaphor, although Kathy doesn't say that each of their lives are like a string of fabric, readers can imagine these strings or stitches unwinding from the whole fabric. This helps them understand how Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy's lives eventually separate from each other. Ruth's insulting Tommy's animals ultimately led to the destruction of the relationships, although there were other factors. The relationship was already worn, but that last incident really just doomed it.

Oh, But They're Weird and They're Wonderful / Simile (Chapter 16/ Pages 185-196)

"In fact, it took a moment to see they were animals at all. The first impression was like one you'd get if you took the back off a radio set: tiny canals, weaving tendons, miniature screws and wheels were all drawn with obsessive precision, and only when you held the page away could you see it was some kind of armadillo, say, or a bird."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 187

So, in this chapter, Tommy finally shows Kathy his drawings that may someday make up for his lack of artwork at Hailsham. The quote above is a simile comparing his drawings to the inside of a radio. This helps readers really envision the artwork. We can imagine the tiny little lines he would have drawn on the armadillo, or all the feathers on the bird. We could also think that the drawings were, at least, slightly abstract and strange because Kathy says that they almost didn't even look like animals. I know I think of these weird little creatures with more animation than realistic detail. It also evokes a sadness in readers, though, because we know that he's doing this so he might get a deferral. We can tell that there really isn't much of a chance that Tommy can redeem himself.

A Little Slice of Happiness/ Mood (Chapter 15/ Pages 168-183)

"Everything felt suddenly perfect: an hour set aside, stretching ahead of us, and there wasn't a better way to spend it. I had to really hold myself back from giggling stupidly, or jumping up and down on the pavement like a little kid."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 171

The mood in this chapter is very refreshing. Up until now, most of the book has been heavy and pretty dramatic. This chapter provides its readers a break from that. The mood in this chapter is like the comic relief in a drama - something to lighten the the intensity of the viewing (or in this case, reading) experience. Therefore, the mood is contrasted to the atmosphere in the rest of the book. We've been unraveling the mystery of the donations and the Hailsham students' futures, which can be very suspenseful at times. The new mood can be compared to certain times in one's life. Even when life is stressful, we still have those little moments that bring us happiness and laughter, which makes all the anxiety and struggle worth it.

A Potpourri of Thought (Chapter 14/ Pages 156-167)

I hope I don't get points off for this, but there was so much going on in this chapter that I'm just going to give my opinions (a lot of it is related to my personal life) on a bunch of different quotes.

"She pointed to the entrance of a Woolworth's shop."

Are you thinking of the same movie I'm thinking about? You can't help but smile and say to yourself, "And stay out of the Woolworth's!"





"So we went into the Woolworth's, and immediately I felt much more cheerful. Even now, I like places like that: a large store with lots of aisles displaying bright plastic toys, greeting cards, loads of cosmetics, maybe even a photo booth. Today, if I'm in a town and find myself with some time to kill, I'll stroll into somewhere just like that, where you can hang around and enjoy yourself, not buying a thing, and the assistants don't mind at all."

This takes me back to some good times. I don't know if it's just a woman thing, but my friends and I love going to places like this. Before we could drive, my friend Mary would ride her bike to my house, and then we would walk to CVS and Kroger and just look around or get candy. Even now, I will call a friend and we'll go on a Target run just because. It seems to be good bonding time.

"I'd already turned into the aisle - one with fluffy animals and big boxed jigsaws - before I realised Ruth and Chrissie were standing together at the end of it, having some sort of tete-a-tete."

1) I was excited that I knew this meant face to face. French has proved itself useful to me.
2) I can now use the book for quoi de neuf this year. Score.

"It wasn't obvious, but the longer we kept looking, the more it seemed he had something."

I was really convinced that they weren't even going to see Ruth's possible. So even I got that giggly feeling when I was reading this part. It's really cool that they could have seen her actual model - kind of like an adopted child finding their biological parent. In the end, it wasn't her model, but the idea was just really enticing.

"Tommy's making jokes about some passers-by, and though they're not very funny, we're all laughing."

My friend Brooke and I wrote down almost all of our inside jokes in a notebook once (we call it the Quotebook ). We showed a friend a couple of them, and as we were crying from laughing, she looked at us like we had mental disabilities. This reminded me of that.

"But she just kept walking, a dozen or so steps ahead, than went in through a door - into "The Portway Studios." "

Every fall, my mom and I pick one Sunday to go to Nashville in Brown County when the trees change color. We always go to one store that is full of paintings. The atmosphere described in the book matched that of the store we visit so exactly; now I can't read the book without picturing that store as the setting for The Portway Studios.

"I remember thinking then how different they actually were, Chrissie and Rodney, from the three of us."

I felt like Kathy was trying to suggest something more with this quote, but I'm not sure what. Maybe it's what set them apart? I guess it could have been that they went to Hailsham, or that they were just getting used to living at the Cottages, or that they all just had better attitudes than the veterans. I'm not sure, but the quote just provoked thought for me.

"We're modelled from trash. Junkies, prostitutes, winos, tramps."

What is a wino? An alcoholic?

Oh, No She Didn't / Rhetoric (Chapter 13/ Pages 146-155)

"Whenever they laughed, I laughed too just to be polite. Tommy seemed to be understanding things even less than me and was letting out hesitant little half-laughs that lagged some way behind. Ruth, though, was laughing and laughing, and kept nodding to everything being said about Martin just like she too was remembering them."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 150

As much as I dislike Ruth, I can't deny that she is very intelligent. Fake, but intelligent. She has mastered the use of rhetoric to act as if she knows much more than she actually does. This only earns her more respect from the veterans; being seen as their equal is obviously Ruth's goal. This has really frustrated me - it's like Ruth is in a play: a one-woman show of which she is the star actress. Her veteran audience is just laughing it up and having a grand old time, and she completely convinces them of the character she is portraying. But, more importantly, her technical crew, Kathy and Tommy, are pushing props in at the right time and keeping the spotlight on her when they could ruin this whole operation in a minute. Whether anyone knows it or not, the techies run the show from back stage, and they have the most responsibility when putting on a performance. So I laughed maniacally to myself when Tommy finally stopped complying with Ruth's show (it kind of made me flashback to that time when Kathy almost brought up the pencil case). However, Ruth snapped back and effectively shut Tommy up by bringing up a touchy incident from his past. Ruth's use of rhetoric allows her to manipulate the people she associates with through their communication.

The Island (Chapter 12/ Pages 138-145)

"Our models were an irrelevance, a technical necessity for bringing us into the world, nothing more than that."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 140

The whole time I've had my theories about what donations are and what the Hailsham students' futures held, I missed one important aspect of everything. The students lived at the school (or institution or whatever else you want to call it) year round and never went to a house with parents, so I wondered whether they were simply born, put up for adoption, and taken to the school or if they even had biological parents. The latter is right. These people were cloned from others so that their organs could be harvested whenever they were needed. The first thing I thought of when ascertaining this was the movie The Island. It's a little bit different (and I'm sure its themes also differ), but it has the same idea.

The movie is about two people who live in a very controlled society where everyone is kept at peak physical condition. A "lottery" selects one member of the community to go to the Island, a fantasy location where they will spend the rest of their life. However, what they don't know is that they aren't people, but clones of wealthy, important figures who live in the real world and pay millions of dollars to insure that they can get any body part whenever they need it. When a clone is selected to go to the Island, he is actually going to be harvested for whatever organ his owner needs. The movie calls into question the morality of genetic engineering and cloning and whether clones have souls and emotions.

Who Knew Numbers Could Be So Exciting? (Chapter 11/ Pages 126-137)

"She was struggling to become someone else, and maybe felt the pressure more than the rest of us because, as I say, she'd somehow taken on the responsibility for all of us... I never appreciated in those days the sheer effort Ruth was making to move on, to grow up and leave Hailsham behind."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 130

In this chapter, Kathy and her friends find it difficult to adapt to their new home. All they've known is Hailsham, and now they are thrown out into the real world to start working. It's always hard to move away; many people experience this in their lives somehow or another, and they have problems adjusting to their new lives. The characters in Never Let Me Go struggle to assume their new responsibilities.

A similar situation occurs in the book-turned-movie I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore. The novel is about Four, a boy from another planet with special abilities who is being hunted down by a rival alien group. They kill each person in succession according to his or her number. Once One, Two, and Three are killed, Four must relocate from Florida to Paradise, Ohio and take on a new identity, John Smith. He has difficulty adjusting to his new life like Kathy and her friends.

British Words/ Colloquialism (Chapter 10/ Pages 115-125)

"That's how I realised that this "Gawd help us" stuff came from an American series..."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 121

Throughout this book, British slang and words have been used plenty of times. Besides reaffirming the accents of  the characters in my mind, the colloquialism effects the reader in other ways too. If one did not know the location, the diction would help the reader place the novel in England. It also made me realize how differently cultures spell things, even while speaking the same language. For example, the Brits use "s" instead of "z" (realise as opposed to realize), "our" instead of simply "or" (favourite as opposed to favorite), and "re" instead of "er" (theatre as opposed to theater). There were a lot of terms repeated that we Americans don't really use (like daft). There were also a couple forms of slang used (for example, snogging). Overall, I really like British colloquialism; it spices up the experience of reading the novel for me.

Tommy vs. Ruth: Character Studies/ Foil Characters ( Chapters 8 and 9/ Pages 90-111)

"So you see, it's got to be you to our rescue. Tommy and I were made for each other and he'll listen to you. You'll do it for us, won't you, Kathy?"

~ Never Let Me Go, page 104

First I want to say that I was so furious when I found out Ruth and Tommy were dating. It's all backwards and sick and twisted and frustrating! It's supposed to be Tommy and Kathy!

Next I would like to point out the irony in the quote. 1) If Ruth and Tommy actually were made for each other, he would be able to listen to her and reconcile the differences. Also, she would be able to communicate with him without worry. 2) If Ruth needs Kathy to talk to Tommy and salvage the relationship, little red flags should be going off in her head right about now.

Lastly I will contrast the differences between Tommy and Ruth who are definitely foil characters to each other.

• Ruth is a leader. She is inclined to control situations (and people for that matter) and wants to be accepted and revered by her friends. Tommy is basically an outsider with a couple close friends here and there. 
• Ruth manipulates people and ridicules them. Tommy was relentlessly taunted for years by people like Ruth. 
• Ruth is very clever and intelligent - she understands the situations she is in, and she knows how to relate to people to get what she wants. Tommy is naive and innocent. The way he displays his emotions is very childlike and honest. 

Life Sucks! Get Over It / Parallelism (Chapter 7/ Pages 77-89)

" "It's not so bad now," she said, even though the rain was steady as ever. "Let's just go out there. Then maybe the sun will come out too." "

~ Never Let Me Go, page 81-82

So Miss Lucy just told the kids very directly that they will have to donate when they get older and that they have no control over their futures. She thought that was what they needed, and maybe it was, but it seemed to darken the mood over the whole class. When she was done, she looked out at the rain and the fields and said the quote above. At first, I almost thought she was still talking about donating and what's ahead for these kids. What's funny is that this quote does somewhat parallel the attitude that the students have. They know that they will have to do, but they still take on life and think that it may be better for them; they may have a happy life with a successful job, but they know the harsh realities that will soon face them, even if they don't understand them. This is really quite depressing for me. I wish there was a way to give them something else to look forward to - something like a career or children.

Beware Independent Thought. (Chapter 6/ Pages 61-76)

" "You've been told about it. You're students. You're... special. So keeping yourselves well, keeping yourselves very healthy inside, that's much more important for each of you than it is for me." "

~ Never Let Me Go, page 68-69

In this chapter, Kathy tells us that the guardians take extreme measures to prevent the children from smoking. I understand this - smoking is ridiculously unhealthy and can be fatal. But there's a more important factor in this scenario. My theories I recently shared with you have been confirmed - the students are all going to one day be organ donors. So, again, the whole no-smoking thing makes sense: they have to preserve their bodies and lungs and livers and such. The only thing I'm a little confused about is the measures taken to keep the students from cigarettes... ripping out pictures of people smoking in books and removing valuable pieces of literature from libraries? They seem to be taking this a bit too far for my liking. Kathy was absolutely terrified to let anyone see that her cassette cover had a cigarette on it, and she didn't even have any intention to smoke.

This reminds me of a grade school experience I once had. My brother Jon had recently got me interested in the Harry Potter books, so after reading the first three at home, I walked into fourth grade with the latest copy, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. However, shortly after I started reading during DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read), my book was confiscated for the day. Why, you ask? Because the Harry Potter books are heresy and therefore contradicted my teacher's endeavors to give us a Catholic education. There were also several parents who had already contacted the school and informed administration of the dangers of these books; they were horrified that their children were being taught in a classroom that also contained these monstrosities. Okay, I'm exaggerating a little, but my book was confiscated like Kathy's cassette tape would have been if any guardians had seen it. As children, we should have limited experiences so that we can establish moral values, but in both my elementary school and Hailsham, censorship was taken to extreme and unnecessary levels. I mean, come on, people - it's a book! I don't think I'm going to transform into a wizard once I read it, and I don't think there is actually a school of magic.

Ruth: More Than the Average Love-Hate Relationship/ Round Character (Chapter 5/ Pages 49-60)

"Now I saw how upset Ruth was; how for once she was at a complete loss for words, and had turned away on the verge of tears. And suddenly my behavior seemed to me utterly baffling. All this effort, all this planning, just to upset my dearest friend."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 60

Ah, Ruth. As we continue reading the story, more and more dimensions of her personality arise, never failing to entertain us further; she is definitely a round character. I could think of some words to describe her, but unfortunately, they aren't acceptable for a homework assignment. Ruth is a very complex character for a couple reasons. She exhibits not only bossy, childish actions during play with other children, but also feels as if she has to lead (or maybe dictate) the other girls in her group and control every situation. She purposefully lies to gain more respect and power, and she somehow succeeds in her endeavors while also evoking anger in her peers (or maybe subjects), which confuses me. God only knows what made her this way - it was probably something in her personal history. What particularly surprised me, though, was that when Kathy approached her and merely suggested that she could have information that may injure both her reputation and her pride, Ruth became extremely vulnerable and revealed insecurities that apparently run deep. At this point, I was rooting for Kathy to aim for the jugular, but she instead spared Ruth and considered herself the antagonist (Why are you such a good person, Kathy??). Now my only question is if Ruth was just completely scared, or if she intentionally exposed her vulnerability to manipulate compassionate Kathy into taking responsibility for the incident and liking Ruth more (well, for now). 

I think the reason why so many people can relate to this - especially women - is because everyone has had or been a Ruth in their social life. Ask any girl and she will tell you about that one friend who displayed Ruth-esque traits at least to some extent. And it's really a struggle! So as of now in the novel, we readers will be rooting for Kathy to recognize the harmful effects of the relationship and move on - we can now really relate to and encourage Kathy to overcome this. 

Some Theories and Speculation/Foreshadowing (Chapter 4/ Pages 37-48)

"That's why that afternoon by the pond, when Tommy was telling me about his talk with Miss Lucy, about how she'd said to him we weren't being "taught enough" about some things, the memory of that time in the library - along with maybe one or two other little episodes like that - started tugging at my mind."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 41

Remember the "other things" I mentioned in my last blog? Well, I have some theories about them now. I feel that Kathy's emphasis on Miss Lucy's seemingly unimportant ramblings is foreshadowing something quite important. So what aren't the students taught enough about? I believe it's the donations. I have this idea that the students are going to this school (Hailsham) to grow up to be donors or carers. At the beginning of the book, Kathy talked about her experiences as a carer and the "donations" that her patients had to make. This wouldn't be such a big deal, except that they had to make a large number of donations (the largest I remember was four which seems like a lot); I'm thinking organs, but there does reach a point where one must stop so his own body can function. (You could donate a kidney, blood, a spline, part of a liver, or an eye, but what else?) Anyway, I think that students go to Hailsham and other similar institutions with a very controlled environment to be taught proper behavior and social etiquette - along with academics, of course - so they can one day become a donor without opposition. I think that, as children, they are taught to be creative and to contribute their artwork to the school so that they are conditioned to give to society without question. Maybe this isn't the main goal of the school, but I think it definitely has significance.

A Science Experiment Gone Wrong (Chapter 3/ Pages 25-36)

"It's like walking past a mirror you've walked past every day of your life, and suddenly it shows you something else, something troubling and strange."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 36

In chapter three, Kathy recalls an incident in her childhood known by her classmates as the "token controversy." When Madame comes to take away their most valuable pieces of artwork for honorable display, the students start to question the tokens they've lost. Ruth, Kathy, and their group of friends decide to perform an experiment. However, the results are not what they expect. They find that Madame is not only afraid of them, but she finds them slightly repulsive and is almost disgusted by them. Undoubtedly, this would be emotionally painful to anyone to be viewed this way; it's quite ironic that what started as a fun little game to observe, metaphorically, a rat in her cage changed into the scientists being viewed as the animal, the "spider." Madame's opinions of the students stimulate the reader's thought. I'm now wondering if there is something else that is going on.

Really, This is Kind of Serious. (Chapter 2/ Pages 13-24)

"I thought sooner or later someone would start saying it had gone too far, but it just kept on, and no one said anything."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 15

Let me say right now that, as selfish as it sounds, the first issue I would solve if possible would not be hunger, abortion, or eating disorders - it would be bullying. This is a very upsetting problem to me in our society for a couple of reasons, but I will spare you the details of my personal life. I would really love to express my frustration toward these little animals that go to that school. It isn't just one person or even a small group that is constantly taunting Tommy - it's the whole school. And over something as absolutely ridiculous as lack of creativity?? The things they do to him are indisputably cruel and heartless. And what's worse is that they honestly think he deserves it, that he deserves to be incessantly ridiculed and derided because he has a temper. This only reveals hypocrisy in the students because other pupils have anger problems too - they can simply go about their day without wondering whether someone will reject them or verbally abuse them at any moment. This angers me to no end, so when I see Ruth comment on how he could control other people's actions if he only had an attitude adjustment, I immediately categorized her as having bad character. You hear that, Ruth? You are now on my list. My bad list.

And So We Start Never Let Me Go/1st Person (Chapter 1/Pages 3-12)

"My name is Kathy H. I'm thirty-one years old, and I've been a carer now for eleven years."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 3

I'll be honest - the first thing I thought of when I read the first page was that I was STOKED to read this book because it was in first person. This is my favorite type of perspective, perhaps because it seems so much more personal. In third person when the unknown narrator is describing what someone is feeling, I sometimes find myself wondering how they even know or thinking that they can't understand that character. The truth is pretty much completely subjective, right? The truth is different to every person, and until every involved person's idea of truth is known to all, we can't know the whole truth. I think that's why it is so difficult for me to read third person omniscient novels - they know the whole truth, which seems shady to me. I think it's so much easier to empathize  with the character if she (or he, but in this case the narrator is a woman) is telling you her own truth; it's like I can read her mind and it gives me proper insight into her problems and interests and emotions and history. Enough of that rant! Here are several questions and premature opinions I had about the first chapter.

1. What exactly does Kathy's career entail? I'm assuming that a "carer" is like a nurse simply from context, but I would really like a job description. 
2.  Are these donations like organ donations? Apparently, they have multiple operations, so I'm a little confused about that. 
3. Are Ruth and Tommy Kathy's friends or just kids with which she attended school? There are so many aspects of this situation that I must take into consideration. First, Kathy says that their differences hadn't vanished, so obviously there is some hostility, or at least mild argument, between her and Ruth. Secondly, during the incident on the field with Tommy, Ruth and the other girls (and boys for that matter) were blatantly bullying Tommy, which makes me question their ability to have friends at all. Also, Kathy especially recognized their cruelty, which makes me wonder if she has much respect for her "friends," or if they are simply bodies to associate with to fulfill her social needs. (Does that make sense?) Next is Tommy. Kathy seems to know personal details about him, which leads me to believe that they are friends, but she is falling victim to peer pressure and doesn't defend him from their peers. However, she does approach him and calm him down, which convinces me of the former... I think?

I'm just thinking aloud, but I have a feeling that the answers to these questions will reveal themselves soon in the novel.