Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Book Analysis

The novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, follows the life of a woman named Kathy H, a clone, whose purpose is growing up to be a carer then an organ donor. She grows up at Hailsham, a boarding facility, along with other clones during her formative years. Even though she leaves this place behind, Kathy finds her mind frequently returning to it. The novel shows that Kathy’s home is in her friends and memories from Hailsham, even though her physical home has been destroyed, it still lives on inside her which stresses the importance of human connection. 

Kathy is a clone which means she doesn’t have a biological family, so the guardians and the friends she makes at Hailsham are the closet thing she has to a traditional family.  The kids at Hailsham act like normal kids would; they gossip, go to classes, and make fun of each other. “There have been times over the years when I’ve tried to leave Hailsham behind, when I’ve told myself I shouldn’t look back so much. But then there came a point when I just stopped resisting.”  (Page 5) Despite not having an actual family, Kathy forms similar bonds with the people she grew up with at Hailsham.  After she becomes a carer, she looks back on her time at Hailsham happily.  Kathy lived at Hailsham for so long that is part of her. 

The human connections in their lives have so much importance to simulating a normal life since they don’t know differently and don’t think they have any other way to live their lives. At Hailsham, the guardians prepared them in the way they saw fit for the life that was laid out for each of the clones.  The clones were never really given a chance to process that they would never have a life where they kept things for long periods of time which is why Kathy cherished her friendships and keepsakes from Hailsham.  Kathy could not let go of her past at Hailsham because it was the closest thing she had to a home.  After Hailsham, she moved around a lot and only took comfort in her memories and caring for Tommy and Ruth when she had the chance.  After Hailsham was destroyed her memories were really the only thing left of what she could have thought of as home.   

Many people think that home is a structural place.  For many people a building can be part of what they consider home, but it isn’t everything.  Home is about the person or people you choose to have in your life and Kathy represents this idea that home isn’t always a place, but rather a feeling.  She keeps her relationships and childhood memories close to her heart which makes her feel at home even though she moved around a lot.