Never Let Me Go - Context

Quote by Ishiguro about society

"I think society as a whole needs to be more engaged"

What is the main focus of Never Let Me Go according to Ishiguro?

Exploration of how relationships change over time, particularly when that time is limited.

Consumer Culture

The Gallery and the second hand gifts both relate to consumerism. The clones could only get these gifts if they 'earned' them and bought them. Society would only believe in the clones humanity through the Gallery.

When did the UN create the non-binding agreement for a ban on human cloning?

March 2005

March 2005

UN non-binding agreement called for a ban on human cloning.

Immigration

Kazuo Ishiguro was a Japanese immigrant and moved to the UK when he was 5 years old. He may have felt like an outsider to the UK and Japan.

Dual Nationality

Kazuo Ishiguro had dual nationality for both the UK and Japan, This may have caused him to view both of these cultures from the outside.

What similarities does Never Let Me Go have with 1984 by George Orwell?

There are similar features :
- Conditioning
- Brainwashing
- Obedience

When was Dolly the Sheep created

1997

Dolly the Sheep

1997
First mammal clones from an adult cell
It died early due to arthiritis

Dystopian Fiction

Oppression
Social Order vs Individual Desire
The Other
Politics
Power
Questions 'What makes us human?'

Utilitarian Justification

The greater happiness for the greatest number, causing the clones to suffer as they are the minority

Link to Communism

Own economy
Same fate
All treated the same
Same jobs

Nagasaki

a city in southern Japan on Kyushu where Ishiguro was born in 1954
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki links to the pain of scientific advancement.

Daniel Deronda

In the book, Daniel is a character who has struggles with his identity while he searches for his true parentage.
This contrasts Kathy as although she also struggles with her identity, she doesn't have the agency to find who she is or find her 'parentage'. Her reading this book is a way for her to compensate for her own struggles with identity.

Scotland Road School

1970s
At the time, state schools suppressed individuality
Scotland Road School was a progressive school that aimed to widen horizons and explore new settings.
It relied wholly on donations to keep it open.

Unreliable Narrators

Ishiguro's narrators are characteristically unreliable.
This feature can be compared to the multiple narrators of Frankenstein, who all could be lying.

Social Work

Before Ishiguro was a writer, he worked as a social worker. This links to Never Let Me Go as social work is a profession similar to the guardians.

Hailsham Meaning

Hail- = Salute
-Sham = A lie

Allusions to WW2

Barbed wire around the school
Experimental surgery
Students believe that the originate from 'garbage'
The students are dehumanised - 'Kathy H'
The clones are separated according to purpose, i.e. whether they are a donater or a carer