Never Let Me Go Lesson 6

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Never Let Me Go

Lesson 6

In Class Today

Mood

Summary & Analysis of chapters 13-16

Mood

 In literature, mood is a literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions. 

Usually, mood is referred to as the atmosphere of a literary piece, as it creates an emotional setting that surrounds the readers.

What type of mood does the author create throughout the novel?

- Reflective, nostalgic, somber

- A mood of memory and loss

Chapter 13 - Summary

Early one morning that winter, the five of them pile into a borrowed car and set off for Norfolk.

The group finds a café in Norfolk for lunch and there, Chrissie and Rodney reveal what they have spent months talking about with each other—the possibility of a “deferral” of caring duties for Hailsham couples who can “prove that they’re properly in love.” 

Chapter 13 - Analysis 

There have been rumors going around the veterans at the Cottages about these so-called deferrals. Chrissie and Rodney heard that Hailsham students could sometimes get deferrals if they could prove that they were really in love. 

In her desire to bend the world to her liking, Ruth is so willing to make Chrissie and Rodney happy that she pretends to have heard about deferrals, even though no news of them ever reached Hailsham.

Chapter 14 - Summary

In Norfolk the group goes into a Woolworth’s so that Chrissie and Rodney can stock up on cheap birthday cards and there, Kathy overhears Ruth telling the couple that, at Hailsham, people knew about the “deferral” rumor but didn’t say much about it. 

Kathy knows that Ruth is lying.

• It is unclear what a “birthday” might mean for a clone—based on how clones are actually created—but Chrissie and Rodney nevertheless think it’s important to stock up on birthday cards in order to surprise their clone friends. Ishiguro sprinkles these tiny moments of sad realization—that clones want normal lives but cannot have them—throughout. And yet, even as they "play" at having normal lives beyond their reach, the clones still do have lives that are meaningful and human—the clones may not have birthdays, but the love and friendship behind the cards are real.
  

What is this scene's importance?

Chapter 14 - Analysis

It is unclear what a “birthday” might mean for a clone—based on how clones are actually created.

This is again a tiny moment of sad realization—that clones want normal lives but cannot have them.

Eventhoughthe clones still do have lives that are meaningful and human—the clones may not have birthdays, but the love and friendship behind the cards are real.

Chapter 14 - Summary

The group follow a woman who they believe to be Ruth's "possible" but after a while they realize that she is not.

Ruth becomes angry and yells out that they all know who their real “clone parents” are—prostitutes, criminals, and others drawn from the dregs of society into the cloning program.

Chapter 14 - Analysis

This is the first time this information is mentioned, although the other characters seem to know implicitly that it’s true.

Chapter 15 - Summary

Kathy and Tommy decide not to go along with Ruth and the other's.  Tommy tells Kathy that he never cared much about the “possible” idea, since he figures it doesn’t really matter who they’re modeled on—it’s not as though they’re actually like their “clone parent.”

Chapter 15 - Summary

Tommy tells Kathy that, in Woolworth’s, he was looking for a present for her; The Judy Bridgewater Tape that she had lost.

The two decide to “rummage around” for the tape in Norfolk, since, after all, they joke together that it’s the “lost corner” of England.

They come upon a second-hand shop and, sure enough, Kathy discovers the tape among a box of other used, old cassettes.

What can we learn from this sequence of events?

This is the first real indication that perhaps Tommy would rather spend time with Kathy than with Ruth.

Chapter 15 - Analysis

Kathy sees how delightful this coincidence is. The only way this could be more perfect would be if the metaphor were actually true—if Norfolk were in fact a “lost corner” where actual lost things reappeared. 

Instead, the Bridgewater tape here is a clone, a double, a copy of the original—just as good for Kathy’s purposes, but not quite the same, and not holding the entire sentimental value with which Kathy had viewed the original.

Chapter 15 - Summary

Tommy says he has another theory about Hailsham. 

Tommy fears that the Gallery was used as a way of selecting art samples from each of the students, as a means of determining what those students were “really like in their souls."

Chapter 15 - Analysis

A very important section in the novel. As it will later turn out, Tommy’s theory is not so wildly off - though he misunderstands the ultimate reason for the Gallery, and presumes it must have something to do with the rumor of deferral.

Why is this especially worrisome for Tommy?

In Never Let Me Go, the equation goes like this: being creative = being human. You can't have one without the other. It might sound harsh, but not everyone believes that clones like Kathy count as "human."  Tommy was not very creative up to now, so the pressure is on.

Chapter 15 - Summary

Tommy has been working on new art—a series of “small animals,” with almost robotic or mechanical features, which he hopes will show that he is in fact creative, and that he and Ruth might have souls that “match up.”

Chapter 15 - Analysis

The nature of Tommy’s artwork is very interesting, and the reader only hears of it in small snatches, from Kathy’s perspective. Kathy never appears completely taken with the animals—she finds them strange and disconcerting, very much “unlike” the other art that was common in Hailsham at the time.

Chapter 16 - Summary

Kathy runs into Ruth and Tommy around the Cottages—the two of them are having a heated discussion and Ruth calls Kathy over, telling her that Tommy has introduced his “Gallery theory” to her.

Ruth mercilessly mocks Tommy's theory and art in front of Kathy. Kathy is stunned and silent, and soon Ruth lets out that Kathy, too, finds the animals “a complete hoot" (p.192).

Why would Ruth do this?

An important confrontation. After this point, the novel turns very quickly into adulthood. Indeed, one could view this moment as the definitive end of their childhood and youth—of the life represented by Hailsham and the Cottages. After this, Kathy will have to work hard, years later, to repair her relationship with Tommy, and Ruth and Tommy will never really recover—they will split soon after leaving the Cottages.

Ruth might have said something because she is jealous of Kathy's and Tommy' s relationship.

Chapter 16 - Analysis

We could view this moment as the definitive end of their childhood and youth—of the life represented by Hailsham and the Cottages. After this, Kathy will have to work hard, years later, to repair her relationship with Tommy, and Ruth and Tommy will never really recover—they will split soon after leaving the Cottages.

Homework

Keep on reading and find quotes for the theme you chose to use for your altered book project.