One of the strongest themes that exists throughout the novel
is the importance of love and friendship through any challenges one might face.
Despite being faced with their own mortality at a very young age Kathy, Tommy,
and Ruth find their strength through their connections to each other. Towards
the end of the novel Kathy and Tommy find out from Madame and Miss Emily that
many people do not believe clones are human or contain souls, and that they do
not deserve to grow up leading normal lives. As Miss Emily puts it, “we took
away your art because we thought it would reveal your souls. Or to put it more
finely, we did it to prove you had souls
at all” (260). Through this confrontation between Emily, tommy, Miss Emily,
and Madame we learn the ways in which Hailsham provided a semi-normal existence
and childhood for clones, so that they could live as regular lives as possible
before they began their donations. After all that Ruth, Tommy, and Kathy have
been through together they are able to find the importance of personal
connections, proving that friendship both emphasizes and comforts people when
regarding their own mortality.
When Kathy encounters Ruth again after not seeing each other
for many years she says, “the instant I saw her again, at that recovery centre
in Dover, all our differences—while they didn't exactly vanish—seemed not
nearly as important as all the other things: like the fact that we'd grown up
together at Hailsham, the fact that we knew and remembered things no one else
did” (5). These shared roots give Ruth and Kathy a sense of connection, even as
Ruth faces her last days before completion. This allows the two women to reminisce
about their school days, and the ways in which their friendship grew and changed
throughout the years as they moved from Hailsham, to the cottages, to becoming
carers and donators. Despite not always getting along well, Ruth and Kathy find
that as their friendship draws to a close their connection remains strong as
Ruth encourages Kathy to attempt to get a deferral for her and Tommy. In the
end despite impending death for everyone she knows Kathy is able to find solace,
and is better able to confront her existence and the ultimate end of it,
through her connections, love, and friendship with those in similar
circumstances.
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ReplyDeleteIshiguro’s focus on friendship seems to be a way of humanizing the clones. The bond between Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy, lasts throughout their short lives, as pointed out here by Emily. This bond allows all three to display very human emotions in regards to one another. Early on in the book Tommy wants to explain to Kathy about his temper, to confide in her. Just like a normal girl would do when asked to speak alone with a boy Kathy tries to “... sneak off afterwards down to the pond without getting everyone curious” (24). Tommy may be Kathy’s friend, but she, at that point wants it to be clear they are only friends, as she is still in the stage before she is interested in boys. This is a very normal reaction to such a meeting, although Tommy confides to Kathy about his worries about not being creative, a very Hailsham concern. Later on in the book, there is a romantic entanglement between Tommy and Kathy, but only after Ruth asks for forgiveness because she “...kept you [Kathy] and Tommy apart” (232). These three have been connected their entire lives, through friendship and romance, the sort of thing that would be in any other run of the mill YA book, set in a world like the real one. It is not the clones’ emotions and relationships that are extraordinary, but rather their circumstances. The humanness of Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy’s tangled relationships serves to highlight their humanity.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assertion that one of the strongest themes of the story is the importance of friendship and love. I also believe that Hailsham is the reason that Kathy, Ruth, Tommy, and the other students are able to find these connections with each other is because of the emphasis that the school places on souls. When Hailsham forces their students to express themselves creatively through painting and writing, they are simultaneously sharpening their student’s abilities to express themselves to each other.
ReplyDeleteAs you mention, Miss Emily and other guardians at Hailsham claim to foster creativity to “prove you had souls at all” (Ishiguro 260). They want to prove the student’s humanity and give them the same chance at expression, friendship, and love that every ‘normal person’ has the chance to do. I think this is why the other clones are so envious of the Hailsham students. They were afforded what everyone wanted: the most normal existence that could be afforded to them. When Kathy and her friends move to the cottages, a lot of the veterans were “awestruck about our being from Hailsham” (Ishiguro 145). We later learn that this is because of the rumors of deferrals; however, at a deeper level I believe all of the clones were seeking the same opportunities in love and friendship that were available to the Hailsham students.