Topic > Art and Identity Construction in Never Let Me Go

In Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, art is seen as an extension of one's soul. Through painting, writing, or any other form of art, Hailsham students are able to overcome their clone identities and express their true selves. The art that students make or find attractive is a reflection not only of their souls, but also of their feelings. Most of the world sees these students as soulless creatures, incapable of human emotion; however, Hailsham's guardians believe that when students are “raised in humane and cultured environments, [it is] possible for them to grow up as sensitive […] as any ordinary human being” (261). Thus, tutors encourage their students to create their own art and be moved by the art of others, to demonstrate their ability to experience a wide range of human feelings. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay However, what is most important in the novel is not that the world recognizes the souls of these students, but that the reader does. In order for the reader to truly understand the novel's motives for what it means to exist, they must see Kathy, the novel's protagonist, and all the other clones as "real" people. Rather than simply telling the reader that the students are ordinary people, Ishiguro vividly demonstrates the feelings that art evokes in the students. Kathy, the protagonist of the novel, is extremely moved by the song Never Let Me Go on her Judy Bridgewater cassette. His passion for the tape extends beyond the song itself, to the emotions the tape provokes and the life experiences it unexpectedly connects to. The tape causes Kathy to feel a desire for intimacy and a desire for ownership; these human feelings cause the reader to see Kathy and the other students as "real" people, ultimately allowing the reader to understand the role of existence within the novel. When listening to or thinking about her Judy Bridgewater tape, Kathy longs for intimacy. Being emotionally moved by music is an archetypal human quality, as humans are perhaps the only creatures on the planet who connect aspirations to music. Kathy arbitrarily bought her tape at a garage sale in Hailsham. At the time, she didn't know how much the tape, and especially track number three, "Never Let Me Go," would impact her emotionally. The first time Kathy tells the reader about her tape, although she is unable to outright explain why, she says, "it really hit me" (70). What she didn't realize at the time was that the track stirred emotions she didn't know she felt. At Hailsham the tutors “timed [everything they said to the students] very carefully and deliberately so that [they] were always too young to properly understand the latest piece of information [but… assimilated it] to some level” ( 82). As a result, at the age of eleven, Kathy, although not fully aware of her identity as a donor, had a vague inkling of what her life would be like. When Kathy hears track number three, a song supposedly about romance, she holds onto a pillow and dances with it. As she performs this action, she imagines herself as "a woman who would be told she couldn't have children, who really, really wanted them her whole life [and then] a miracle [happens] and she has a baby" (70) . Even though at this age Kathy has never been told outright that she could not have children, the song triggers a desire for a mother-child relationship that she does not yet consciously know she will be denied. Kathy creates her own interpretation of the lyrics,.