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Essay / Never Let Me Go: The Complicated Path to Freedom in Dystopia
“Tommy sighed, 'I know,' he said. “Well, I guess we have time. None of us are in any particular hurry” (178). None of us are in any particular hurry. I remember closing my book out of frustration. How can these human beings remain so sleepy, slow and indifferent in the face of imminent death? In Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, Kathy H's reflections on the clones' empathetic thoughts and experiences leave no doubt about their humanity, but also reveal the disturbing absence of our arguably most "human" ideal: a thirst for freedom. Through self-propagated actions and mentalities, Kathy and by extension the clones in general become trapped in the same dystopian society that marginalizes them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essay Although being a competent caregiver may seem to soothe and benefit her fellow clones, Kathy's "kindness" maintains and strengthens in reality the inequalities of dystopian society. . This becomes clear when revisiting Kathy's introduction at the beginning of the novel. Speaking about her donors, Kathy is proud that "virtually none of them were classified as 'agitated,' even before the fourth donation" (3). In the context of the excerpt, “unrest” is donors’ frustration with the unjust sacrifice of their lives just to prolong another. These feelings are the precious roots of unrest and revolution; Every instance of organized resistance against an authoritarian state has its origins, in one way or another, in some form of “agitation.” Although becoming a caregiver is obligatory, the extent to which they encourage passivity depends on their own judgment, demonstrated by the lack of state interference or control over the care process. Clone labor maintains the donation program by maximizing state profits with almost free labor, while using the relationship with the donor to ease tensions and prevent rebellion. Therefore, when looking at the role of a caregiver in the broader context of the clone population, aspiring to be a "good caregiver" by appeasing a potential revolution is actually extremely harmful, confirming the structure of dystopia ( 282). The care process breeds passivity not only among donors, but also among caregivers themselves. Kathy goes on to reflect on her personal attachment to her position: “Okay, maybe I'm bragging now. But it means a lot to me to be able to do my job well, especially for my donors to stay “calm”” (3). In addition to dimming the flames of resistance by striving to keep donors "calm," Kathy's commitment to pleasing her superiors also impacts, albeit unconsciously, her own ability to rebel. Kathy is clearly passionate about excellence in her work, as evidenced by her admission of bragging, something we never see the humble, soft-spoken narrator actually do in the rest of the novel. It would therefore be illogical for Kathy to weaken her commitment to care with dreams of resistance, given the crucial importance of this position for her identity: she introduces herself as follows: "I am thirty-one years old and I have been a caregiver -caregiver. now for more than eleven years” (3). People generally come forward with the information they believe is most important to their identity. Furthermore, the quest for success as a caregiver enforces self-compliance by making it almost impossible to attempt anything else; Kathy is constantly exhausted physically and mentally fromtraveling and caring for donors: “You do all this rush. I've been watching you. It wears you out” (282). A fair extrapolation of Kathy's experience and high esteem for her work on the general clone population reveals a disturbing, cyclical trap. Because of their short-sighted perception of success, caregivers prioritize momentary comfort achieved by overcoming resistance in themselves and their donors, respecting the structure of the donation program. While caregivers enforce passivity on an individual level, the clones' obsession and strict adherence to a group identity leads to repressed resistance from the group as a whole. The importance placed on maintaining a collective identity, a group membership, becomes clear when Kathy encounters a threat to her association with Hailsham. When informed that the school was closing, Kathy's immediate response was, "But what will happen to all the students?" (212). She expresses deep concern for "all the students who had grown up with me and were now spread across the country, caregivers and donors, all separated now but still connected in one way or another by the place from which we were coming” (212). Although Hailsham's dismissal has no direct impact on any of her former students, Kathy is deeply troubled; asking “what will happen” implies that the shutdown makes it impossible for students to continue their lives as they are. Kathy speaks as if the bond the former students share is so crucial that its removal would result in the disappearance of the clones' core identity. Indeed, the value of being joined by “the place we came from” is much greater for clones than for non-clones; it fills the void of unknown origins that is crucial to human identity. The absence of parents, family or ancestral ties creates a permanent aura of ambiguity, forcing the clones to cling to an alternative source of affection and belonging: the group identity provided by Hailsham. Former students create and maintain this social construct to overcome their insecurities and clarify an origin, thereby allowing themselves to achieve a sense of normalcy. Imagining the fate of these clones from this perspective forces us to understand why they clung so tightly to Hailsham; they would never risk losing their makeshift family by attempting to rebel. Having established the clones' view that the Hailsham group's identity is akin to family, the perpetual fear of being isolated from this social construct is clearly too great to consider opposing the donation program. Immediately after learning that her old school was closing, Kathy remembers meeting a clown carrying a pack of animal-shaped balloons in North Wales. While observing the balloon collection, Kathy “kept worrying that one of the strings would come undone and a single balloon would fly away into that cloudy sky” (213). Kathy's repeated anxiety, as she "kept worrying", represents the deep-seated fear of being separated from her metaphorical balloon group, or Hailsham group identity. The single balloon represents an individual who severs his connection to Hailsham by opposing the group's social norms, thereby becoming a defector. In the clones' childhood, the "unraveling" of the group was reflected in taboos such as Marge K questioning Mrs. Lucy about tobacco, or the rejection of Tommy's creativity. These cases resulted in community sanctions and exclusion to restore compliance: "we chose to punish her by pulling her out of bed, holding her face to the window, and ordering her to look at the.