Challenging Conventions 2018-2019

In the novel Never Let Me Go,  Hailsham is a place where students are kept and told what to do. One main focus for the children at Hailsham is art and the ability to be creative. While the students concentrate on making the best art in order to get tokens and for Madame to select it, they aren't worried about their life in the future. Their reality is a harsh secret that is kept from the children by their guardians and the less they know, the better. Likewise, in the book The Underground Railroad, the South is a place that appears as though everyone is hypnotized and black women don't realize why they are truly given more freedom than in most other states. The doctors in the South brainwash the black women to make them feel as though they are taking control of their lives. When the doctors don't tell the patients what they are really using the women's bodies for, they are completely oblivious and powerless. Essentially, in both novels, the students and black wom...

The love stories of both Kathy & Tommy, and Lou & Will are not conventional or cliché in any sense of romance but also, their love stories are cut short because of uncontrollable outside forces. Kathy and Tommy want as much time together as possible and they try really hard to get a deferral so they can have even a little more time together. However, since they are clones and their lives are scientifically made for donations, the system has made it impossible for them to lead normal human lives, including the fact that they are not able to live and enjoy their lives together; they aren't able to grow old together because of the way their world works and that system was out of their control. Similarly, Lou and Will want to spend as much time together as possible but because of Will's illness, Lou has to say goodbye to him after 6 short months together. Lou tries everything she can to prevent Will from (*spoiler alert*) going through with a doctor-assisted suicide. W...

The stories of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and Never Let Me Go are completely different but the theme is the same it seems.  While Me and Earl and the Dying Girl  is a full-on romantic story about a girl dying from cancer but wanting to live out her days with a long lost friend, Never Let Me Go is a love triangle about people just finding each other while two are on the brink of death and Kathy has the ability to care for them until their final breathe. I find the connections to be hidden behind the long chapters of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl but right on top of the pages of Never Let Me Go.   In Never Let Me Go, Kathy and Tommy finally are able to be together yet Tommy is dying and already on his third donation.  This does not leave them a lot of time to finally be together after having to hide their feeling for years because of Kathy’s frenemy Ruth who, at the time, was dating Tommy.  Ruth was dying and she did not want to die in guilt so she ...

While the two dystopian novels, Never Let Me Go and Divergent , differ almost completely from each other in plot, but the societies that they are based in do share some similarities. In Never Let Me Go, the students in Hailsham and other schools for clones are only taught in a way that will benefit their society instead of educating them about the world around them. This is similar to the factions in Divergent, who are limited to learning about how to do their jobs rather than how their system of government works. When Hailsham students are about 16, they are broken up and sent to places like the Cottages, so that they will eventually start to rain as carers. In Divergent, when children turn 16 they are sent off to whatever faction they choose to start training in their own jobs. In Divergent, information about how a person's aptitude for the different factions is withheld from them, especially anything about being "divergent" which is not fitting into one particular f...

Great undertakings to the humankind always take the sacrifices of millions. History repeats itself in the real world and in science fiction books. The Ender's Game is a science fiction book set in an unspecified future where the people have discovered an alien race called "buggers", and the protagonist Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, who has shown exceptional promise is sent to the battle school in space for training at a very young age. Showing leadership skills and incredible tactical abilities, he becomes the captain of the team and eventually leads Earth to destroy the buggers.  Ender's Game (Movie) Never Let Me Go and Ender's Game has some incredibly similar qualities.  1. They are both at a special training school for the benefits of humankind.  Students at Hailsham receives a unique education from the outside world where they are taught to be creative, protective of their health, disciplined, and about subjects such as sex, donations, ...

In the novel, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger and her family are trapped in World War Two era Germany, in the thick of the conflict. Despite their dark surroundings and the unshakable possibility of being considered outcasts, being bullied or hurt, or even killed at the hands of the Nazis, they stay true to their morals and act on what is right, rather than what would keep them safe. Liesel and Kathy, the narrator of  Never Let Me Go,  share many similarities despite the stark contrast in their worlds. One of these similarities lies in their natural ability to feel compassion. As Kathy grows up, it becomes clear that she has a natural ability to feel compassion toward other people. This translates directly into her success as a carer in her later years. Similarly, Liesel feels a genuine feeling of compassion toward Max Vandenburg, a Jewish man hiding from the Nazis in her home. As Max hides, Liesel does everything in her power to care for him and treat him we...

Dystopian literature has become more and more popular and influential in society since the last century. We’re presented with different but non-the-less disturbing worlds one after another. From the Hatchery to Room 101 to the Donating centers, brilliant minds had shown us possibilities of this world that we could never think of but rational and realistic. In most dystopian worlds, humanity is the most mentioned and discussed topic and is often redefined, twisted, ignored. However, In Never Let Me Go , Kazuo Ishiguro approached this topic with extreme delicacy and sensations. Never Let Me Go is a story about a society which uses clones to produce organs in order to produce cure certain diseases like cancer. The story is told from a point of view of a clone which forced the reader to travel along with the narrator in this new world with limited information. Kathy is brought up in an entirely different society than the reader(I hope so), not only cultural-wise(as it’s set in England) ...

In the novel Never Let Me Go , the main theme revolves around the idea of finding your place in a dystopian society. Main characters Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy find themselves living a life that has been entirely planned out for them. They get no choice in what career they get to have, not that they actually get a career at all, but they are forced to become carers of donors and then eventually donors. As clones of regular people from the outside world, they are biologically engineered for the purpose of donated organs to those who need them. Another factor of being clones is the fact that Kathy, Ruth and Tommy all have what they call "possibles" living in the real world. These "possibles" are basically the people who they were cloned from. They have all always been curious about who they are, what their future includes, and why they are the way they are. This need for the truth becomes a blind wanting for information that they probably don't want to hear. They fear...

Never Let Me Go  and Star Wars  are two tales that at first seem galaxies apart.  One is a mellow, thoughtful novel about nostalgia and a glum future in the United Kingdom, whereas the other is an action-packed saga filled with action, political intrigue, and, of course, war.  These two stories, however, both have a heavy emphasis on clones and ask questions of how we as people should and do perceive them. Firstly, both stories point out the perceived expendability of the clones.  In Never Let Me Go , children are cloned from "probables" in order to donate their organs when they become adults.  They all are educated by institutions such as Hailsham in order to help them better perform fulfill their roles when they get older, even though they may not realize it.  They are in addition trained to view their sacrifice and death as an inevitability and what they are supposed to do, rather than as unfair or as an injustice.  They are conflicted b...

Ruth and Regina George from Mean Girls have very similar character traits. Regina George is the leader in her group. She can recruit members and expel them when they don't follow the code of laws the Mean Girls have to follow (wear pink on Wednesday, sweatpants only once a week ETC.) If a girl breaks even one of these rules, they will be expelled because it gives the group a bad image. Ruth is the same way with the group she created. She makes sure people who are in her Guardian club follow the standards she sets. If they don't do everything Ruth wants, she immediately expels them. Both Regina and Ruth expel people in their groups in order to gain and maintain power over girls. Another aspect of Mean Girls and NLMG is the part where the leader of the groups have a pitfall. Regina ends up gaining weight and wearing sweatpants more than once a week. This is frowned upon by Cady, Karen, and Gretchen. They question Regina about the rules and Regina brushes them off and says the r...

         Unwind , a dystopian novel by Neal Shusterman, tells the story of two boys and a girl, all from different backgrounds and upbringings that somehow became unwinds, children whose bodies will be taken apart and given to adults and kids who need them.  Never Let Me Go  by Kazuo Ishiguro, on the other hand, is narrated by protagonist Kathy, who reminisces about her journey from Hailsham, the school she attended as a child, to a carer and eventually an organ donor. Despite the difference in the time periods in which these stories occur, one in the future and the other during the late 19th century, they share many similarities regarding the themes they cover, such as organ donations by the young, the importance of talent in society and the question of whether or not an individual's life is truly their own.         These novels both address the topic of organ donations or transplants from peopl...

1. What do you think is the reason behind the abnormal behaviors of Madame? And what role does Madame play in the book compared to other guardians? 2. (Add to Niki's question about told and untold) Are there things that we are told and not told in our world/lives?

What is the emotional  significance of the song “Never Let Me Go”? Why does the author chose this song as the title of the book? What do you think Norfolk might be symbloic of?

Since Kathy is recalling her time at Hailsham from a long time after, can she be considered as a reliable narrator? why? If Ishiguro had to chose a different character to narrate their time at Hailsham, who would you chose and why?

What does it mean to be "told and not told"? How can this apply to our lives and the idea of innocence and ignorance?

1. After all the information given by far, what kind of world do you think Kathy is in? 2. Why do you think the students at Hailsham avoided topics about donations when they were small? Why did they start to joke about it after getting older?

Do you think there is a relationship between the growing age of the students and the suddenly dark nature of their discussions and interactions? Does it have to do with the information the guardians give them as they grow up?

Why do you think Mrs. Lucy believes it's her job to inform the students of their true purpose rather than keeping their harsh reality a secret like the other guardians? or Why does she have a hard time putting on a mask and covering up the fact that Hailsham is preparing them to eventually donate their organs compared to the other guardians?

Why does Kathy imagine a woman finally having a baby even though she'd been told all her life that she couldn't when she hears the song "Never Let Me Go"?  Does this foreshadow anything?

Do you know anyone like Tommy in your life? Be honest, how have you treated them? How have you seen them be treated? What are the common preconceptions of them?

If the students at Hailsham are taught to think about each other, but not their guardians, why do they punish each other so harshly when somebody asks a question of the guardians, especially since they all secretly want answers?

1. Why do you think that an increasing number of guardians are suddenly expressing their views on the matter of donations, despite spending all those years gradually revealing it to their students? 2. Why do think that the students at Hailsham rarely hug each other? What does this show about the community that they are growing up in?

If all the students at Hailsham are destined to donate their vital organs, why do you think their school is structured around creativity instead of being athletically oriented?

      The most obvious connection between Hailsham and Hogwarts is that they are both settings for the fantastical and imaginary lives of two less than normal teenagers in twentieth-century England; however, beyond the obvious, Hogwarts and Hailsham have other similar characteristics.       One of the most intriguing concepts that Hailsham and Hogwarts both exhibit is the idea of being "hidden" from the public eye – and the students that attend them as well. Both Harry and Kathy H don't know where their schools are. While Harry leaves and comes back to Hogwarts every year, Kathy H has been there from infancy and has never left. Thus, she has never been able to trace the journey to her school and has been left searching for hints as to where Hailsham might be located ever since. The common characteristic of a secret location adds to the mysterious and magical atmospheres of these two schools which is Rowling and Ishiguro's intended goal.   ...

I listened to this episode of Studio 360 (a great podcast that tends to focus on pop culture and the arts) a while ago, and it seems so relevant given the role of creativity at Hailsham. Give it a listen (either in its entirety or in segments) if you're interested. The episode has several segments, ranging from whether we can test creativity to how creativity can take on different forms in different parts of our lives. One segment gets us inside the mind of a jazz pianist while playing, and the other two segments explore whether we can enhance creativity and whether having imaginary friends makes one more creative.