[SYNOPSIS]'Never let me go' is a science fiction novel written by British author Kazuo Ishiguro. Despite its sci-fi status, 'Never let me go' is surprisingly very indie, possibly the most heart-wrenching science fiction book I have ever read. The book is set in retrospective England, in a fictional world where scientific advances in the 80's have already made human cloning possible, hence, people start producing clones in order to harvest their organs for medical uses such as transplants. The film begins in the country side, in Hailsham boarding school where the clones live till they turn 16, then, they move to the "cottages" which are residential areas where they have their first taste of the real world. When they hit roughly around 35, they become donors, and are required to donate their organs via a total of 4 operations, most clones only surviving till the third. When a clone dies while donating it is morbidly termed as "completion" by the characters in the book.
[CHARACTER ANALYSIS: KATHY]
The book revolves around 3 main characters, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, Kathy being the protagonist. Their story begins in Hailsham, where Kathy falls for Tommy, a quiet boy who would get picked on a lot. He would start throwing tantrums and having a temper, which would only make Kathy want to reach out to him more, even as a child, Kathy has a sympathetic nature. When Tommy gets bullied for not being able to be creative, Kathy is able to relate even though she is artistically talented, being not only sympathetic but empathetic as well. She continues to love Tommy even when he hits her by accident during one of his tantrums. Kathy confides in Ruth, her love for Tommy, even though Ruth is clearly depicted as a manipulative character, this shows Kathy is a very trusting, gullible person. Kathy is clearly hurt when she sees Ruth becoming intimate with Tommy, however she manages to hide it, eventually almost getting over it. Even though the beginning of the book depicted Kathy as being a meek, feeble girl, we quickly see how emotionally strong she is. Kathy envelopes incidents that affect her and is able to put on a poker-face at her will, showing that she has quite a lot of control of her emotions. As they become adults and move to the "cottages", Kathy's resentment towards Ruth becomes more prominent. Ruth starts to copy the behavior of people on television in order to fit in with the others in the cottages, Kathy confronts her and tells her that that is not how people really act in the world, that the people on TV are exaggerated. Here, we understand that Kathy is very mature, she is not interested in pleasing others and is satisfied with the way she is. She finds Ruth's attempts at fitting in to be rather disgusting. However, when Ruth tells Kathy she is only jealous because she is the only single person in a house full of couples, Kathy simply brushes her off, showing her non-confrontational nature. Kathy is someone who speaks honestly to others without sugar coating her words, however she is never in the interest of getting into a fight. We see that she is very forgiving when she decides to help when Ruth needed someone to accompany her out of town. Although Kathy seems to be a very positive character, I guess her only personality flaw is her brutal honestly. She doesn't hesitate telling someone the truth no matter how hurtful it might be, perhaps because she's heard the truth about her own life far too many times. Tommy catches Kathy flipping through a porno magazine, as though she was looking for something, when asked what she was doing she simply replies "I'm just looking at dirty pictures". Later in the book we find out that she was actually looking for the person she was cloned from; she had always had strong sexual urges and thought that she might have been cloned after a porn-star. Even though she is not really interested in finding her "original" she wants to get a sense of what kind of person was she molded after, in order to get a sense of who she is. She feels somewhat empty.
Her personality attributes flow according with the story when she applies to become a carer, someone who takes care of donors during their donations. Her ability to keep her emotions in check allow her to take care of her donors without having a break down no matter how bad the situation might be. She soon becomes Ruth's carer, then Tommy's. Kathy and Tommy try to apply to defer their donations for another four years, only to find out there are no such things as deferrals. Unlike Tommy who shows his frustration, Kathy is able to keep calm, and accept the situation. Even though she is hurt, she accepts what is happening to her.
As I neared the end of the book, I realised how catatonic Kathy's personality really is. From her point of view, unlike Ruth and Tommy who outwardly show their emotions, she chooses to keep them inside, hidden, because she knows there is nothing she can do to change her situation, so she just simply accepts it. She has forced herself not to feel bereaved whenever her donor completes, perhaps because I think she'd rather live a decent life rather than feeling depressed all the time. I think Kathy knew that even as a little girl in Hailsham, there was no point feeling sad about something she cannot change. That was what made the book so tragic, Kathy exemplifies how most people would behave if they were in a similar situation. I could relate with Kathy. Coming up with a character so real, and raw is far more difficult than coming up with some exaggerated aficionado, which is why I feel Kazuo Ishiguro is extremely skilled in his craft, making this book "novel of the decade" according to TIME.
No comments:
Post a Comment