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.