Use Never Let Me Go website.

Characters:
Kathy H- Protagonist and narrator of the novel. Thirty-one years old
in the novel clone, who has been bred for her organs to be
harvested when she turns to an adult. However she now works as a
carer (a sort of nurse) for clones undergoing 1is good with her job.
Kathys personality is described as nurturing, empathetic, passive,
pragmatic and optimistic. We see the nurturing and caring nature of
Kathy when she misinterprets the song Never Let Me Go as a song
about a mother and a baby, despite it being a lovers song. This
helps reveal her internal maternal feelings and thus making her a
perfect fit to be a carer. We see this when Ruth and Tommy started
dating she felt a sense of jealousy but didnt really created a
massive reaction, and instead kept it to herself. We can tell that
Kathy quite a pragmatic as when Tommy wanted to apply for the
deferrals program in chapter 20, she was dubious about the plan.
This pragmatic mindset of Kathy is perhaps what that makes her so
conforming towards her surrounding as she perhaps has know
subconsciously about how everything is going to end and thus
choose not to fight it but to accept it as if it was fate, as she realizes
fighting it only does more harm than good, and thus doesnt also tell
Tommy about her thoughts.
The passive nature of Kathys personality plays a huge role in her
characters development, as seen by the fact that she doesnt
oppose to the whole process of completion and while we can deduce
that she loves being a carer due to her caring and empathetic
personality, it doesnt justify her overly passive personality as seen
in the cottages when Ruth lied to Tommy that Kathy thought his
animal drawings were ugly. Moreover her passive personality is
perhaps what that led to her to having a more carefree approach
towards selecting sex partners. Furthermore, Kathys passive nature
also helps justify how she managed to suppress idealism thoughts
from her childhood such as having kids (pillow incident). Kathy on
the other hand did nothing to oppose to that. Kathy at the closing
end of the novel dated Tommy.
Despite Kathy sounding like a total conformist, this might not be the
case as while she conforms to be a donor she does so because she
wants to as her friends are all gone, and she her caring and
nurturing nature for others also makes her perfect for the role. This
is very different to being pressured to conform by society. Moreover,
while she sounds like an extremely passive person it can be
explained by her optimism and pragmatism, she doesnt really
mention any bad stuff in Hailsham and romanticized it, she made
Hailsham a place where everyone gets to be who they want; she
also dont hold grudges towards Ruth despite all that she has done
and chooses to remember about the good, thus linking to her

optimism. Other than that her pragmatism is seen when she is

willing to play along with the horse game, not exposing the truth
about pencil case and not stopping Tommy from the deferrals due to
the fact that she realizes that exposing the harsh reality only does
more harm than good.
Ruth- Kathys best friend from childhood. Ruth is described in the
novel as a selfish, prideful and a pathological liar (lying to Tommy
that Kathy thought his animal drawings were ugly, which is not true/
pretends to be talented at chess when she doesnt know how to
play/pretends that pencil case was a gift from her favorite teacher
when in fact she bought it for herself/ lying to Kathy that Tommy can
never fall in love with a person that casually has sex/ pretending
that she knew all about the deferrals, despite the deferrals never
existing) who likes to be the alpha female as seen with her
constantly trying to maintain a dominant status against others by
(creating her own secret guards and horses, criticizing those that
dont follow her methodology and conforming to the actions of the
seniors).
However on the other hand Ruth also has high social intelligence
and often notice and adapt to her social surroundings as seen by her
imitating the seniors elbow tap, realizing that Madame is afraid of
the students, and also correctly deduced that Kathy had feelings for
Tommy when in the cottages. We can interpret Ruths conforming
behavior as her method of fortifying her dominant social status, we
see this when Ruth still views Tommy to be an outcast when
speaking to Chrissie in the cottages, this is probably done to give
Ruth a more dominant social status as shes in control. (Quote: What
you've got to realise," she said to Chrissie, "is that even though Tommy was
at Hailsham, he isn't like a real Hailsham student. He was left out of
everything and people were always laughing at him." (13.58) Ruth said the

quote to Chrissie despite Tommy being her boyfriend and this is

quote is particularly mean as it is trying to make Tommys time at
Hailsham less significant than the others, which calls on the
question onto Tommys existence and identity, as times as Hailsham
is so key to the clones sense of identity/self and existence.
Ruth also went out with Tommy and its only until late in her life
(close to her completion) she felt bad for keeping Tommy away from
Kathy are tries to make amends.
Tommy D. Tommy is one of Kathys classmate in Hailsham, as a
kid hes considered an outlier/outcast by many due to his short
temper (throwing tantrums regularly), immaturity and differences
(not being able to produce quality art: his childish drawing of an
elephant, and not willing to conform to the system). Tommys
childish behaviors has haunted him even when hes in the cottages

where Ruth would constantly tease his in front of the seniors, and
even Kathy would call him names.
However as Tommy grows older and is at the phase of his life ready
for his completion, he becomes more super social and has lots of
good friends. Tommy in his childhood is a classic example of
rebellious non-conformist attitudes, despite total conformity being
bad, sometimes certain measures of conformity is needed to
prevent collateral damage such as when Tommy accidentally hits
Kathy in the face when throwing his tantrums. We also learn that
despite Tommy learned to conform and control his temper, he still
threw one last temper closing till the end of the book when he found
out that there were no deferrals (this shows that individuality is part
of human nature, even for clones and while you can try to suppress
certain impulsive actions, in the end of the day you cannot suppress
individuality). Tommy is also seen as this dull and slow character
in the sense that he dates Ruth despite liking Kathy this whole while,
which is only revealed close till the end when hes making his
donations.
Madame Marie Claude- Madame is a pro-clone advocate living
outside Hailsham. Alongside Ms Emily they fight for the rights of
clones to be treated humanely before their completions. However
her role was not known to Kathy and her friends at Hailsham,
instead she was known only as the woman who occasionally visits
Hailsham to take their best artwork for the mysterious Gallery. We
can assume that Madame has is a loving, caring and kind person as
she fights for the rights of clones and also cried when she sees
Kathy dancing to Never Let Me Go and thinking of all the injustices
done to her. Not to mention that close towards the end, she
personally vouched to keep Hailsham up and running despite its
eventual demise.
On the other hand, Madame also poses a conflicting characteristics,
in the sense that she is clearly scared by the Hailsham students and
this can be interpreted by her viewing clones not on par as humans,
and her kind acts to clones receiving better treatment is similar to
pro-animal advocates fighting for animal rights but necessarily
placing the rights of animals on the same level as humans.
Moreover she is also very cynical and jumped to conclusion thinking
that Kathy and Tommy were ungrateful upon meeting them at the
start of the novel. All in all we can conclude that Madame is a
pessimist and perhaps one of the reason why she never ventured
into helping the clones by encouraging them to rebel and fight
against the system is either she believes that the clones deserves
their fate (and are not on par as humans) or that she believes that it
will not succeed (pessimist behavior).

Miss Emily- Miss Emily similar to Madame is a pro clone advocate

that demands better treatment to the clones (until their
completions). She is also the head guardian at Hailsham, she is a
very strict woman and seems to have an extra sense of whats
going around Hailsham. We see this in quote: Kathy tells us, "It was like
she had some extra sense" (4.26).

Despite her strict personality, she is also the one that keeps
Hailsham students safe, and shes also well respected by the
students for her fair judgments. Quote: "We were all pretty scared of her
and didn't think of her in the way we did the other guardians. But we
considered her to be fair and respected her decisions; and even in the Juniors,
we probably recognized that it was her presence, intimidating though it was,
that made us all feel so safe at Hailsham" (4.10)

However one thing that stands out with her role as head guardian is
that she is in control of the information regarding the clones fates
(completion), yet she chooses not to share this piece of information.
This can be viewed as both a kind act (as ignorance is bliss and not
knowing as shown in the book has provided the clones with a rather
happy childhood) and cruel act (linking back to not preparing
students for the real world), and she is also non-hesitant in firing
guardians that dont agree with her methods of handling such
issues.
Miss Geraldine- Nicest guardian in Hailsham. She even
complimented Tommys ugly drawing of an elephant, but
unfortunately backfired as everyone thought she was mocking
Tommy. Moreover, it was also because of her that Ruth started the
whole secret guard thing, where Ruth makes it her mission to
protect Ms Geraldine, despite Ms Geraldine being a guardian and
her duty being to guide and provide aid to the clones such as Ruth.
Ms Geraldine plays a significant role as she was the one that
brought Ruth and Kathy together and is the one that caused them to
have their first fights.
Miss Lucy- Miss Lucy is a guardian that recently joined Hailsham.
She is viewed by Hailsham students as excitement and rebellious
due to her personality. With Miss Lucy, clones often learn secrets
that were meant to be kept away from them authorized by the
school. While shes doesnt tell clones every single detail due to her
obligations, she does slip blip and blobs of information here and
there. Miss Lucy is sort of the anti Ms Emily in the sense that Ms
Emily wants to control and limit information that can be shared to
the clones, while Ms Emilys approach is to be candid with the
clones and expose the truth to them earlier on. Because of Ms
Emilys actions she was fired and had to leave Hailsham. Despite
being in Hailsham for a short amount of time, she made a huge
impact on the lives of many: Kathy and especially Tommy.

Rodney and Chrissie- Rodney and Chrissie are a couple that the
trio encounters in the cottages. Theyve been living in the cottages
for some time and are considered the seniors there. They also
carry out very specific intimate couple actions to one another
such as the elbow tap (which was then imitated by Ruth). Chrissie
and Rodney both didnt go to Hailsham and has this weird obsession
with Hailsham students, Chrissie especially believes that Hailsham
students are more preferred and would have a higher chance of
being granted deferrals. Rodney on the other hand is also concerned
with the possibility of having the deferrals and despite having no
substantial claims, comes to believe that the deferrals exist (despite
it never existing before). Lastly, Rodney and Chrissie were also the
ones that got the trios attention on the imaginary deferrals.
Narrator point of view:
The book is entirely told from a first person narrator: Kathy, and
everything that happens is based on Kathys own memory. In the
novel, Kathy looks back at her life and tries to remember all her
most important experiences (as if she wasnt ready to let go).
We know from the get go this is narrated in first person as Kathy
mentions at the start. Quote: "My name is Kathy H. I'm thirty-one years
old, and I've been a carer now for over eleven years" (1.1)

We as the reader are also spoken to as if we know whats happening

in their dystopian society, and thus the tone is very conversational
which helps it develop the theme of memory and make it seem as if
Kathy is reminiscing to the past.
However one thing to keep in mind is that Kathy doesnt have
perfect memory regarding every detail that occurred, and thus the
information that shes giving might not be reliable.
Art (Motif)
Motif:
-basically a symbol
-an important symbol as it develops and help explain central theme
-regularly appears in the text
-Motif in never let me go is art, because art is a representation of
creativity.
-Creativity is born of individuality, and individuality is what makes us
humans, the ability to see things differently.
-This is because with creativity and individuality, even if you cant
paint you can response to art in an emotional level either positively
or negatively, and everyone does this differently thus individualism.
-That response that we have of art is also then a reaction to others
individuality and creativity.

Tommy and art:

The significance of Tommy and the importance he placed with art
closing towards the end is sort of a medium for Tommy to escape
reality, giving him a false sense of hope. Thus it represents a dream
of a better place a better future. This false sense of hope is not
necessarily a bad thing as it helps provide a bit of faith and
happiness, but then once again moderation is always key, and while
a little fantasizing is good, too much will lead to believing what you
dream of being true, and ultimately doing harm.

Individualism
Clones
Conformist influences of society making us lose our own
individuality
Paradox of art and clones
The paradox of art and clones:
Clones= Us Art= individuality
In Never Let Me Go Art helps to reveal ones soul thus art makes you
human, as its our differences that makes us humans and not our
similarities. In conclusion, even though society/media attempts to
make us the same by isolating those that dont conform, we will
never be the same, as we are humans, its within our instinct to be
in one or the other way different.
Scene (clones doing art):
When the clones are doing arts, they are trying to show how even
when you are a conformist you are still capable of producing
something original as it is part of human nature. Originality cannot
be suppressed. All in all saying that regardless of societal pressures
humans nowadays are still capable of escaping them and not
constantly under the influence of society.
Sex
Helps differentiate us individual because the clones all have
different preferences and value judgments with sex, (i.e. Kathy is
very carefree and casual when it comes to sex). Also theres a
homosexual subplot (where gay sex is referred to umbrella sex)
showing that how even clones are different to 1 another, and since
clones are considered people that are deeply influenced by
conformist influences it helps reveal individualism.
Normal
The normals are significant to the clones as they are these mystical
people to the clones, and are sort of who the clones should be, as
society perceives people to be who they are destined to be based on
their family, background and parents. Therefore, the normal also
represents the sense of identity and belonging to the clones.

Moreover, the normal in the book also acted as a pipe dream to Ruth
as she was happy and excited to hear that her normal was of a
person who works in an office, thus an educated person. This
however wasnt true as Ruth leaked that they were all modeled from
trash, this can be explained as society cloning clones from bad
people as they expect them to grow up to be bad as well thus
justifying their actions of stripping clones of their freedom and
organs, and making the clones sub-human.
Furthermore, the clones also dont actually meet/track their
normal (like Kathy looking through porn magazines and not finding
her) as theres no such thing as who we are meant to be, as we
choose what we want to be by our everyday actions. This is a
juxtaposition between individuals choosing their destiny and society
perceiving clones to be the same as their normal.
Conclusion
The entire text from an individualism POV is about moderation,
moderating between 2 extremes (like Tommy not dreaming and
dreaming too much about deferrals) as doing things thats best for
you, thus it doesnt really mean total conformity or not conforming
for the sake of being individual, some conformity is needed to
keep society in check but total conformity will cause us to lose our
happiness and our already limited freedom.
Hailsham
Representation of protection of purity and innocence sanctuary as in
by leaving it the clones are needed to grow up, as in hailsham they
were innocent little kids, outside theyre adults. This helps reveal
that youre younger and in school, everything's kind of a game,
everythings childlike, but when you grow up and learn about the
harsh realities that innocence is lost forever.
Moreover, with television restricted Hailsham also acts as a
sanctuary as it protects and prevents children from passing over the
fences into the forest, which is a representation of evil, malice and
horror given the rumours that a clone that escaped outside the
fence had died. Looking from a non-rudimentary view, hailsham is
represented as a safe-haven a protection for the children the
protector of the childrens innocence from the horros (forest) and
harsh realities (TV- Rated R).
However, with television being restricted it also represents how the
clones ended up not knowing about harsh realities and having nave
and innocent mindset. Just like in the real world where G rated
movies - innocent, fun, kid like (i.e. Dora), Rated R - gore, violent.
Despite that if you are not exposed to Rated R you wont know
about how dangerous and disgusting and horrible the world
is. Rated R TV represented the harsh cruel reality where everything

isnt always pretty and is in fact dirty, ugly, disgusting and at times
violent.
Moreover, another key representation of Hailsham is the lack of
preparation for the clones, as art despite being a huge motif in a
different context is so heavily emphasised by the school is ironic as
none of the kids grew up to fully utilise art to help them make the
transition into the real world thus proving that hailsham shields
the kids from horror when they are young but sooner or later they
will be forced to face the harsh realities.
So one of the devices is irony as they the guardians and clones are
all very ignorant (ignorance is bliss) yet theyre in a school and are
supposed to be educated, but instead being ignorant and not
prepared as they are overly shielded from the harsh realities.

Forest: Physical manesfatation of their bad gloomy futures, and

the harsh reality. The fact that all clones share this deep fear for the
forest is in a way a representation of them knowing their future fates
but not choosing to confront it. This juxtaposed with Hailsham helps
build Hailshams status as a sanctuary of some sort.
Real life scenario: Public school systems dont fully prepare kids for
the real world where they emphasise more on grades and
memorisation rather than understanding which is ironic as the
schools duty is to help the kids but more times than none in the end
hurting the kids future.

Backstory of Never Let Me Gos setting:

Never Let Me Go is set in England with real English locations. We can
deduce that England is in quite a dire state and is probably suffering
from donations, and the need of large amounts of donations can
perhaps be explained by the detioriating health of the public or
perhaps the wounded from say an on going battle. The fact that the
general public chose to willing-fully ignore the existence of clones as
being humans also indicate that the general public are probably not
in a good and prosperous state and thus isnt able nor willing to care
for the clones.
Evidence such as the pencil case incident in chapter 5 helps prove
it. As the pencil case was described by Kathy as a gorgeous item
like that wouldnt have gone unnoticed, this helps show the low
quality of life that the clones are having in Hailsham, and the fact
the physical health of the clones are vital to their efficiency of
donations also reveal the moody economic state of England and the

shortage of materials.
Moreover this ignorant attitude that the public has for assuming that
these donated organs came from nowhere and also denying the
rights of clones (before the creation and Hailsham and also stopping
funding after Morningdale Scandal Chapter 22) as they are not
human help shows that they very stubborn with conservative and
ancestral thoughts that might not necessarily be good. This links
with the theme never let me go as some rituals/traditions
despite being filled with history and left down by ancestors
shouldnt be passed on, things such as homophobia, racism,
sexism etc. is still very much a problem in Ishiguros
universe and ours too.
Boat
Is meant to be a tool that could allow individuals to travel across the
vast ocean and thus the idea of being truly free, but the fact that its
stranded on land helps show the irony that it has lost all sense of
freedom and hope. This can represented in the real world as
conformist too eager to conforming and in turn pushing apart stuff
important to them (such as freedom) in hopes of fitting in and being
free, and resulting in the end losing the stuff that mattered the
most all this while, true freedom. Moreover another perspective is
that also true freedom is impossible achieve without understanding
freedom and placing emphasis on those that mattered most to us
(i.e. family, friendships etc.), because freedom is a figure of
perception. This is because when you young you are not truly free
because while you dont have financial burdens you are not allowed
to leave certain places after certain times, then when you grow up
you think you would be free because you free to go anywhere but
this is not the case as youll have obligations such as exams and
finding jobs etc. Thus the key point is not to chase absolute freedom
but to understand freedom and appreciate those most precious to
us while we can.
Norfolk
Norfolk represents idealism and that nave thought of hope, because
to the clones they believe that regardless of whatever that is lost
physical or figuratively they can find in Norfolk. This represents
many people in society nowadays most notably conformist, that
believe conform and if they did this and that they could somehow be
special in the future. Thats the paradox, the fact that we as humans
at times focus too much in the future and hope for something that is
unlikely to happen and in the end wishing our life. Therefore the
moral is sort of telling us to focus about now, living in the present
and making the most out of it.

Plot Summary:
Part 1
Chapter 1:
-Kathy is now a carer, and is reminiscing to her past as one of her
donors wants to hear about Hailsham.
- Sports pavilion is a hard place to get a spot, yet Ruth is always the
one that can get a spot for them, showing her strong character.
-Tommy doesnt get picked to play football, the girls (Ruth/Kathy)
observed.
-Tommy then dirties his favorite polo shirt and accidentally struck
Kathy across the face.
Chapter 2:
-Hailsham students have a medical every week, which isnt pleasant
as they called the nurse crowface.
- Tommy stopping during line to talk and apologize to Kathy also
shows the breaking of the traditional norm. We also learn that
Tommy/Kathy are 13.
- Kathy is feeling slightly embarrassed with Tommys actions but
began to pay more attention to Tommy.
- Kathy then mentioned Tommy getting bullied and why so (bad at
art, short temper etc.) Kathy feels bad and angry for Tommys
treatment, but Ruth think he has it coming.
- The exchange was also mentioned, and its importance too.
- Kathy explains how Tommy got himself into such an awkward
position, and mentions the importance of art. Persons social status
was linked with creation of art, and Tommys elephant incident (Ms
Geraldine) caused him to be an outcast.
- Kathy then mentions Tommy learned to control his tempers, and
talks to him during lunch queue because it has the best acoustic,
showing that Hailsham controls the secrecy of clones well.
-Tommy reveals that Ms Lucy told him its fine not to be creative,
and told Kathy to meet him at the pond for more info, this indicates
the importance of art as they were all taught that art is an
extremely part of their lives, yet they dont know why thus showing
the controlling nature of Hailsham (society).
Chapter 3:
- Kathy mentions that pond isnt a great place for private talks,
showing that secrecy between clones is well controlled by Hailsham.
- Tommy explained that Ms Lucy was shaking in rage, and said art
was unimportant, and Ms Lucy also hinted in rage that students
arent taught as much as they should be about donations.
-Kathy and Tommy are puzzled by the term donations.
-Kathy then started questioning about gallery, the girls also
discussed about Madame, a mysterious woman that took students
best artwork to an off campus place called the gallery.
-Ruth also came to conclusion that Madame is afraid of students, the

girls then swarmed Madame and her reaction was uncomfortable

and stiff, a representation of how society views Hailsham and its
counterparts.
Chapter 4:
-Kathy mentions that she looks forward to becoming a donor
showing her passive personality.
-The fact that Madame took the best artworks resulted in a
resentment, as these students are otherwise able to get tokens for
the exchanges. This lead on to the token controversy.
-The controversy also inspired a girl to ask Ms Lucy why artwork was
taken by Madame, Ms Lucy refuses to answer and she believes the
students wouldnt understand.
-Kathy also mentions how the sales can get rowdy sometimes and
students causing trouble often receive lectures from the scary Ms
Emily.
-Kathy then mentions how she became friends with Ruth: where
Ruth invites Kathy to ride one of her horses (imaginary), and also
allows Kathy to ride her best horse (Thunder) however Ruth was also
bossy by giving Kathy orders how to ride and to keep them in the
stables. This shows the dominant and controlling nature of Ruth as
she is the creator of this game and thus has complete control.
-Then Ruth also invited Kathy to be one of the secret guards,
protecting Ms Geraldine and imagined a plot where Ms Geraldine is
kidnapped and brought into the terrifying woods.
Chapter 5:
-The stories of the woods where students who wandered in was dead
helps contrast with Hailsham (Hailsham being the sanctuary and
woods being reality).
-Ruth also pretends to know a lot about chess by the way she
comments on others playing, however soon it becomes clear that
Ruth knows nothing. Kathy was disgusted and Ruth then expels her
from the secret guards. This shows the controlling nature of Ruth,
wanting to be important and also vindictive nature for expelling
Kathy.
- 3 years later, Kathy notices Ruths flashy new pencil case, and
enquired about its origins, Ruth replied by saying its from Ms
Geraldine (their favorite guardian), and insinuating that shes Ms
Geraldine favorite. Kathy notices the obvious lie, and confronts Ruth.
-We also see that Kathy feels bad for Ruth despite her wrongdoings
showing Kathys caring and forgiving personality.
Chapter 6:
-Kathy now feels bad for Ruth and tries to make it up to her by
suggesting to mutual friends that Ruth does have a special
connection with Ms Geraldine.

-Ruth feels really pleased with Kathy and treats her better.
-Ms Emily then taught geography and characterized Norfolk as a lost
corner because its rural and remote. Hailsham also has a lost
corner, the nickname for the students third floor lost and found,
thus Norfolk became an inside joke.
-At the sale Kathy purchases a cassette tape by a singer named Judy
Bridgewater, the music in the mixtape are really cocktail barlike,
and not the sort of stuff Hailsham students like, but Kathy is liked it
especially the song Never Let Me Go. This shows individuality as
even clones have different music tastes.
-Kathy also vividly describes the cassette cover of a woman in a
flirty pose and smoking, this could indicate that this is the sort of
lifestyle that Kathy craves, but due to her passive nature, she never
chased it.
-Kathy then asked Ms Lucy about smoking and donations.
-Kathy then resumes to the song and interprets it as a womans love
for her baby. Kathy would also listen to the song and use the pillow
as baby, this could be interpreted as Kathys own subconscious
craving but never had the opportunity due to her status.
-Madame watched Kathy while she hugs the pillow and all that, and
cried, and Kathy thought that Madame despite being described as
creepy is different when crying.
-Kathy then lost her tape, but Ruth got her a different tape, and
Kathy was happy for Ruths gesture.
Chapter 7:
-Kathy matures to 16, and refers to it as the darker years. This can
be explained as her being exposed to the harsher realities thus the
term darker.
-Kathy recalls an episode with Ms Lucy, where Ms Lucy overheard
Kathy and the girls discussing future careers, where Ms Lucy got
very upset. Ms Lucy told them that they will not have careers
because they are obliged to make organ donations.
-However Ms Lucys speech didnt cause a huge reaction, this can
be explained as the conforming nature of the clones, where they
have subconsciously taught not to question about the donations and
instead avoid it.
-The clones are exposed to sex and disease (aids), and warned
about emotions. This shows society wanting to control and conform
certain characteristics and yet some conforming is needed such as
health awareness (aids).
-Kathy notices a gash on Tommys arm and said if he moved his arm
it would unzip, this shows her nave nature as shes already 16 yet
still dumb. We also learn that clones joke about the possibility of
unzipping after donations, showing the lack of knowledge or
probably the avoidance of the truth and not confronting it instead
choosing to believe in this idealized possibility of unzipping.
-Kathy and Tommy notices that Ms Lucy is troubled.

Chapter 8:
-Kathy hears some noise and notices Ms Lucy is troubled. Kathy
doesnt tell Tommy because she realizes that theres something
going on with Tommy and Ruth. This shows her passive nature and
she doesnt confront the truth and reality.
-Kathy also found out that Tommy is annoyed and frustrated as he
had a fight with Ruth, whom became his girlfriend. We are also told
that students are allowed to have sex but there isnt a private place
to do so, thus representing the perceived idea of freedom in society
where we are so called free and yet we are confined by money
and fame where we become slaves to societal pressures and in turn
losing true freedom, the freedom that enables us to pursue
happiness.
-The students discuss sex and gay sex, and some thought its good
for health thus showing the differing perspectives and nonconforming personality of human nature despite them being clones.
-Kathy found a boy to practice sex with and learned sex by reading
and watching films. This shows us how society (Hailsham) not fully
preparing the younger generation (not fully explaining sex yet
allowing sex) will lead to further curiosity which could be at times
dangerous as the younger generation lack the experience and
awareness (such as diseases: aids/ issues: rape).
Chapter 9:
-Kathy reveals to us that Ruth and Tommy broke up. She was
mentioned by many as the natural successor and Tommys next
girlfriend.
-Kathy decides to lose her virginity to Harry C despite not
romantically interested in him, she however didnt have sex because
she was called the natural successor. This shows her personality
which lacks emotions, and her outlooks are often more pragmatic
(such as not opposing the donations and in fact looks forward to it
because deep downs she knows its inevitable).
-Ruth asks Kathy for help to get back with Tommy. Kathy reluctant
agrees to help, and spoke to Tommy.
-Tommy reveals to Kathy that he is bothered with Ms Lucys
behavior, where Ms Lucy was upset and in contradicted what she
said a while back saying Tommy has to be creative as Madames
gallery is very important. This shows the secrecy nature of Hailsham
as Tommy kinda knows and yet kinda dont know.
-Kathy then told Tommy to get back with Ruth, Tommy seems
uninterested in Ruth but after a few months when Kathy leaves
Hailsham, Miss Lucy is fired (for exposing too much) and Ruth and
Tommy got back together. This shows the passive nature of Tommy
where he could be pressured into doing things, and also why Tommy
and Kathy is a good couple (future) as they are both passive.

Part 2
Chapter 10:
-At 16 the clones are dispersed to living facilities across England.
The clones are suppose to write an essay during their time there,
but no one took it seriously.
-Kathy explains for the first few months they didnt leave the
cottages, this shows the lack of preparation of the clones due to
Hailsham and their inability to do things on their own without orders,
losing individuality.
-The trio were also invited into the cottages by Chrissie and Rodney,
the 2 senior clones. Kathy also notices that the manner in which the
seniors show their affection for one another are strikingly similar to
what couples do in tv shows. This shows us that being separated
from society, the clones are unable to fully develop as individuals
and look to media/television for inspiration.
-Kathy also notices Ruth changing her behavior and imitating the
seniors elbow tap. This shows us the lack of personal development
for the clones and the fact that Tommy was puzzled shows the
struggle to understand the world, due to lack of preparation.
-Kathy mentions when Ruth came to her when she was reading and
pretended as if she knew everything. Kathy then confronted Ruth
about the elbow tap, and Ruth pretended as if it was something she
has done for a while now.
-Ruth reacted badly and claims that Kathy is jealous because she
doesnt receive attention from the seniors and insulted her for her
casual sex approach.
Chapter 11:
-Kathy explains that she is very bothered by Ruth because she has
had sex with some boys prior to arriving to Hailsham and kept it a
secret with Ruth.
-Kathy explains how sex is different in the cottages than in
Hailsham, where if someone wanted to have sex they just asked and
no one spoke about it, thus showing the differences and changes
that we as humans will face as we grow.
-Kathy also told Ruth a while back that she has had sexual cravings
and Ruth thought it was strange and blamed it on the food, this
shows the lack of understanding for sex and social relations, once
again crediting the blame of the lack of preparation by Hailsham
and its counterparts.
-Kathy also mentions how Ruth decided to get rid of her stuff in
Hailsham seeing as the seniors holds no value for their stuffs in their
former respective schools. This shows the lack of importance of art
in the real world and how Hailsham hasnt prepared the clones for
the real world as art something that they once hold so close to heart
has no value.
-Kathy also realizes that the seniors dont discuss those that left the

cottages, this shows the fake sense of idealism as they believe

avoiding the harsh reality would be a solution.
-Tommy also caught Kathy for reading porn magazines but instead of
doing it for kicks she was looking through the girls faces.
Chapter 12:
- The seniors suggested that they might have found Ruths normal.
This shows the clones idealized way of finding a sense of belonging
in this world.
-We also know that the idea of a possible is a taboo topic, as taboo
as sex but people were obsessed with this idea. As to the clones the
normal are important, as the clones are copied off them. This
suggests the clones somehow feel that they are undermined and
abnormal, representing how conformist are undermined and
insignificant due to their lack of originality being nothing but slaves
to societal pressures.
-Kathy notices that the seniors think that Hailsham students are
special, and Ruth being Ruth played along as if she knew and said
that she would be allowed to work in an office after graduation. Ruth
also really liked working in an office, perhaps one of the signs of her
idealistic characteristics, and more significantly its a pipe
dream for Ruth that she is cloned from someone special and
educated and not like she mentioned modeled from trash
(Rapists, Prostitutes, Robbers etc.). This also shows that
Ruth probably had knew all this while that they were cloned
from bad people of society, as society believes that they will
grow up to be the same people as their normal, which is not
true as in the end of the day we choose who we want to be,
and apart of genetics, the environment in which we live
plays a huge role too.
-All this lying by Ruth helps show the concept of hope and the
pursue happiness, this is represented in the real world as conformist
believing that true happiness and that they could be someone
special by conforming however this is a false sense of hope as by
conforming they in the end restrict their own freedom and lose the
opportunity to be truly happy.
Chapter 13:
-The trio and seniors continues the drive to Cromer. The trio and
senior then talked in a restaurant about how theres a girl from
Hailsham who now works in a shop. This shows the false sense of
hope of the trio and seniors.
-Chrissie then brought up the concept of deferrals, that if clones are
really, properly in love they could have a few years together
before the donation program.
-Ruth then wanting to present herself as a knowledgeable and aware
person then mislead the seniors that the rumours were true. Tommy
then explained how he never heard of the rumours, but Ruth then

said Tommy was never a real Hailsham student. That was really
mean because being in Hailsham and being a Hailsham student is a
huge role of the clones sense of identity and also happy memories
of childhood and by calling Tommy not a real Hailsham student, Ruth
is taking that identity away from Tommy.
Chapter 14:
-The seniors then went to buy Christmas cards, and Ruth continued
to lied about the deferral program. The seniors then led the trio to
the shop where they found the possible of Ruth.
-The trio then stalked the possible into an art gallery, and got a
closer look at the possible. The longer they stayed the quicker the
lost of triumph and happiness in finding the possible.
-However there was something significant when they were
in the art gallery. They were mistaken by those at the
gallery as normals, this show that they are in fact humans
and share huge similarities, despite the normal willfully
ignoring evidence that the organs are coming from humans
and ignorantly persuades themselves that the clones are not
humans. This shows that humans at times can be clouded by
their own desires and persuade themselves with irrationality
as they like to believe what they like to believe. This
ignorance is also seen with the clones (Tommy/Ruth and
deferrals) showing their similarities with humans.
-They then came to a conclusion that the woman is not Ruths
possible. Ruth then got very upset and said we are modeled on
trash. This shows the fake sense of hope and idealistic thoughts of
Ruth/conformist in finding her possible/true happiness (fitting in).
-The seniors and Ruth then visited Martin an old friend whos now a
carer.
Chapter 15:
-Tommy and Kathy are in town and Tommy tried finding the tape that
Kathy lost in Hailsham, and even said he even thought about going
to Norfolk to get it. Kathy is really touched.
-Tommy also suggested that he thinks Norfolk is where things come
when they are lost, this shows his innocence as he is nave and also
extremely unprepared.
-Things than got awkward between Tommy and Kathy, as they have
this love-electric type emotional connection.
-Tommy then reveals that Madames gallery might be linked with
deferrals, this was because Ms Emily told a boy once that art helped
revealed what you were like inside. This shows his false sense of
hope once again as he never heard of such rumours and is now
persuading himself of a lie.
-Tommy then suggested that Kathy looked through the magazines to
find her possible, and Kathy replied by explaining since she has
strong sexual cravings perhaps she could find her possible in

magazines. This shows innocence, false sense of hope and sense of

identity and belonging.
Chapter 16:
-Kathy reveals that many people began leaving the cottages, and
the atmosphere there is changing. Tommy also showed Kathy the
drawings that he has been working on to help with deferrals.
-It is a year since the trio arrived and new students arrived but there
werent any Hailsham students.
-Kathy then had an argument with Ruth as she pretends to forget
things about Hailsham, showing her idealized hope and faith with a
better and brighter future, where she is truly free and not confined
such as in Hailsham.
-Ruth then found out about the tape and also Tommys drawings and
was jealous as Tommy showed them to Kathy first, and told Tommy
that Kathy found his drawings pathetic, Kathy was stunned and
didnt clarify instead left.
Chapter 17:
-Kathy suggested that after the incident the trio is the furthest
apart. Kathy then tried to advise Ruth to be kinder to Tommy,
because sometimes Tommy can be hurt by Ruths harsh words.
-Ruth then tells Kathy that while she and Tommy might not last,
Kathy shouldnt have any false hopes of being Tommys girlfriend as
Kathy has slept with too many boys.
-Kathy was hurt by Ruths words but took it calmly and left cottages
for training to be a carer.
Part 3
Chapter 18:
-Kathy shifts the time period to the present day where she mentions
shes a carer and feels that shes good and right for the job (this can
be explained by Kathys passive and caring character). Kathy also
runs into Laura a childhood friend in Hailsham.
-Kathy was informed Ruths first donation which went pretty bad,
Laura also suggest that Kathy should be Ruths carer. Laura also
mentioned Hailsham shutting down (Kathy also used a really sad
analogy of balloons shaped like face which represents them bonded
by Hailsham, with it shutting down the balloons are flying in
different directions). The closing down of Hailsham also signifies the
death of idealism and the sanctuary that once holds so true to the
students, as the students are now put in the real world to face harsh
realities.
-The shutting down of Hailsham also persuaded Kathy to be Ruths
carer despite their history, afterall they are from the same school
and had the same good old memories. This helps show the theme:
reluctance of letting go of the past, especially childhood as back

then were simpler times where they lived in this idealized world,
when they matured and hailsham shut down it signifies the change
to adulthood and the loss of innocence forever. Moreover also
because deep down Kathy knows that nothing good awaits her in
the future (such as how conformist know that true happiness cant
be attained by conforming).
-Despite a happy reunion, Kathy soon realizes that Ruth still doesnt
fully trust her. Then rumours also circulated a stranded boat, and
Ruth wanted to make this trip as its also close to Tommys recovery
center.
-We are also told by Ruth that the reason why she and Tommy
drifted apart was due to Kathy leaving, though they didnt formally
break up.
Chapter 19:
-Ruth and Kathy went to Kingsfield (Tommys recovery center) and
picked up Tommy, its quite a rundown center compared to Ruths.
-They then made way to the stranded boat and all thought it was
beautiful, Tommy then wonders if the boat looks the way like
Hailsham looks now. This helps to show the crushed sense of false
idealism and hope, as the boat in one way or the other was a
representation of the clones/Hailsham its meant to be a tool
that could allow individuals to travel across the vast ocean
and thus the idea of being truly free, but the fact that its
stranded on land helps show the irony that it has lost all
sense of freedom and hope. This can represented in the real
world as conformist too eager to conforming and in turn
pushing apart stuff important to them (such as freedom) in
hopes of fitting in and being free, and resulting in the end
losing the stuff that mattered the most all this while, true
freedom.
-The trio also discussed how Chrissie died from her 2nd donation, and
she and Rodney broke up. This helps to show the false sense of
idealism and happiness is temporary not permanent, as even a
perfect and mature couple like C and R broke up, and 1 is dead.
-Ruth was also very bitter about the donations and thought she
would died by her 2nd donation, while Tommy has a more optimistic
outlook at likes to think that he is good at donations like how Kathy
is good with caring, this shows the complete change of the once
short temper boy into a conforming individual.
-Ruth also confesses to Kathy during the road trip back that she had
sexual cravings too and even cheated on Tommy at least three
times at the Cottages, but pretended as if Kathy was weird to make
her feel bad. She also apologizes for keeping Kathy and Tommy
apart, despite them being meant for each other.
-Ruth also told Kathy and Tommy to get a deferral and even gave
them the address of Madame. Kathy then dropped Tommy off at
Kingsfield and got back with Ruth.

- For a several more weeks, Ruth made her second donation and is
dying during that time Kathy promised to be Tommys carer.
Chapter 20:
-Kathy becomes Tommys carer, and Tommy has had 3 donations
and is now weaker. Kathy also began having sex with him to show
the physical intimacy for the deferral.
-Kathy however is also sad that they couldnt share this relationship
when Tommy was in the peak of his health.
-Tommy then showed Kathy some of his drawings and that he wants
to approach Madame and apply for the deferrals program. Kathy
was dubious about the plan but agreed.
Chapter 21:
-Tommy and Kathy got to where Madame is living and found her,
they approached her and was invited into her house.
-Tommy also pointed out a picture of Hailsham in a frame photo to
Kathy, but Kathy claims to not know the place, this shows Kathy is
perhaps forgetting some stuff and helps link to theme of not
wanting to let go.
-Tommy and Kathy then tells Madame about the deferrals and how
they are in love, and Tommy also explains the idea of art being used
to reveal their inner souls.
-Madame then starts to cry and this is because she was struck by
the idea that clones are so full of soul and so human that they
are able to form genuine loving relationships. This shows that
regardless of how hard society tries to make us uniform we will
never be the same as it is within our nature to be different.
-Then Madame makes it clear there was a fourth person in the room:
Ms Emily.
Chapter 22:
-Ms Emily told Kathy and Tommy that Hailsham didnt exist before
the development of clones as people liked to think that donated
organs came out of nowhere and also thought clones didnt
deserve human rights.
-Hailsham and a number of small institutions starting in 1960 was a
movement to demand that clones should be raised in humane
conditions and be given human dignity.
-Ms Emily also dismissed the idea of the deferral and explained that
art was collected to show if clones had souls at all, as many postwar English people believed clones to be sub-human.
-Ms Emily also explained that Hailsham was shut down due to the
Morningdale Scandal, in which a rogue scientist James Morningdale
has began experimenting on clones whose attributes could be
selected. This has caused a large reaction from the public as they
fear a super-race of clones could be created and with the existing

negative views of clones, the funding for institutions such as

Hailsham dried up, causing them to shut down.
-Tommy then brought up Ms Lucy, and Ms Emily defended her firing
as not wanting Ms Lucy to leak certain facts regarding the clones
fate, as the clones deserve a happy and innocent childhood. Ms
Emily also explained Madames fear towards clones by stating that
she too was repulsed despite dearly wanting to help them. This
helps show us that conformist represented by clones, will never be
able to be unique or as original as those that dont conform as by
conforming they are losing the one thing that is vital to their sense
of belonging and identity: individuality.
-Madame also explains the time where she was shocked when Kathy
was dancing to Never Let Me Go as a little girl (Kathy) clinging on to
the old kind world when medical advances slowly taking over
morality and kindness of the people.
-On the drive back, Tommy told Kathy to pull over and he had one of
his tantrums just like when he was a kid with three big screams.
Kathy then calmed him down.
-However after witnessing Tommys tantrum Kathy response was
different as she believed that Tommys tantrum was perhaps not
due to immaturity but maybe because he knew something other
students didnt, about the unfairness of their social statuses.
Tommys anger can be explained as his ability to accept fate as a
clone, and the willingness to conform. However on the other hand it
can also be viewed as individualism not being able to be
suppressed, tantrums is one of the key components of Tommys
character and regardless of how hard he tries to keep it in due to
peer pressure he can never lose that part of him, as differences is
what that makes us humans.
Chapter 23:
-Relations between Kathy and Tommy got a little strained after the
meeting and Tommy wanted Kathy to leave and not be his carer for
the his fourth donation, the difficult path.
-Tommy also confesses his love for Kathy and mentions how despite
they are in love there are always forces pushing them apart. This
signals the gloomy fate of clones/conformist.
-Tommy and Kathy also had a chat about Ruth, and discussed how
Ruth wouldnt like to know how things happen, as she wanted to
believe in things. This helps show Ruths false idealized dreams
about the office work/possible/deferral.
-Kathy then says her final goodbye to Tommy, and leaves. After
several months, Tommy completed his fourth donation, and back to
the present Kathy still has memories of all that has happened.
-Kathy also drove back to Norfolk as she believed that in Norfolk lost
things could be found, Kathy then imagines Tommy waving at her
and she cries. Despite crying Kathy maintain her composure and
drove off to wherever shes supposed to be. This can be explained

as Kathy fully accepting her fate and her passive characteristics

further making her into a complete conformist, and with her friends
gone having nothing to live for and looks forward to her time as a
donor.