Hailsham is, as the novel explicitly tells us, a political intervention: it
aims to humanize the ”students” (the preferred term for the clones) by proving to the human world that they have souls
.
Why was Hailsham created?
Hailsham, and a small number of other institutions like it, were started in the 1960s as
a reform movement designed to show that clones could be raised in humane conditions and accorded human dignity
, even if clone and organ programs continued operating.
What is Hailsham and why was it built?
1540 to 1640: Hailsham was
one of the chief centres of leatherwork and tanning (using local oak bark) due to being a thriving cattle market town
. 1542: Fleur-de-Lys Inn built in Market Street (later to be the Parish Workhouse, and now Town Council Offices).
What do the woods behind Hailsham symbolize to the students?
The Woods. The woods behind Hailsham
symbolise realities of which the donor children only have a vague awareness
. The dark and ominous woods are distant and unknown, and are only conveyed through rumours and partial information; their presence is a threatening view of the outside world.
Why is Hailsham important to Kathy?
The structure of this novel is important because it
allows the reader to see that Kathy never moves on from her time at Hailsham School
. Although she physically leaves the school behind and moves first to The Cottages and then becomes a carer, Kathy remains emotionally tied to Hailsham.
Why did Hailsham close down?
He was forced to finish his work as people did not want children who were superior to everyone else. Ultimately
people decided they preferred to have their organs from clones
who apparently had no feelings or creativity and so Hailsham was forced to close.
Why is Miss Lucy fired?
She disagreed with how things were done at Hailsham… Miss Lucy left
because she ‘began to have these ideas' abut
making the students more aware of who, or what they were.
Why did Tommy have a bad temper as a child?
Tommy is Kathy's close childhood friend, for whom she also harbors romantic feelings. At Hailsham, Tommy becomes an outcast among his peers because, unlike them, he lacks artistic ability. He develops a violent temper, often
throwing tantrums in response to teasing from his peers
.
Is Hailsham a safe place to live?
Hailsham is the third most
dangerous
small town in East Sussex, and is among the top 20 most dangerous overall out of East Sussex's 109 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Hailsham in 2020 was 60 crimes per 1,000 people.
Why does Tommy worry about his fourth donation?
When the notice for his fourth donation comes,
Tommy tells Kathy that he wants a different carer
. He points out that Ruth wanted “the other thing” for them, and would not have wanted Kathy to be his carer at the end.
What is the significance of Hailsham school to the society Kazuo Ishiguro has created in Never Let Me Go and why is it so important to the students?
It is important to
the guardians because it gives them somewhere to get a job and earn a wage
. Hailsham is important to the rest of society because it means that the clones have somewhere to go before they are trained as carers.
How are the cottages a symbolically appropriate setting for the story?
The Cottages are an appropriate setting for
the harvesting of the clones' organs as they have been converted from old farm-buildings
. Back in the day, the farm would have been used for the exploitation of animals for meat and dairy products.
How is Kathy an unreliable narrator?
However, Kathy is also an unreliable narrator.
Her account is subjective, presenting events from only her point of view
. She does not recall events in strict chronological order, frequently interrupting one memory to share a related memory from another period in her life.
What happens to Kathy in Never Let Me Go?
After a few more tiffs,
Kathy decides that it's time to leave the Cottages and become a carer
. Kathy spends over eleven years as a carer, traveling between donor centers. She really likes her job. After learning that Hailsham has closed down, Kathy decides to become Ruth's carer.
Did Kathy love Tommy?
The triangle is a standard one:
Kathy is attracted to Tommy
; Tommy gets involved with Ruth, who is also Kathy's best friend; Ruth knows that Tommy is really in love with Kathy; Kathy gets Tommy in the end, although they both realize that it is too late, and that they have missed their best years.
Where do they finally see Ruth's possible?
At Ruth's insistence, they follow the possible
to an art gallery called The Portway Studio
. Inside the studio, they observe the possible talking with the gallery manager. When viewed up close, the woman begins to seem much less like Ruth than they had originally thought.
