The Literary Merit of Never Let Me Go

At first glance, Never Let Me Go appears to be a plot-driven book, which questions its “AP worthiness.” When I first began reading, I struggled to see its literary merit and why exactly Mrs. LaClair would deem it complex enough to read for this assignment. But now that I am three-quarters of the way through, I am beginning to see the intricacies of this story through motifs, literary devices, and themes (to be discussed in the next post).

Duplications and artwork are two of this story’s most important motifs. In this section of reading, the students learn that they have “possibles,” or people that they were potentially molded from. Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy find this idea especially fascinating, and spend time contemplating their possbiles’ looks, careers, and marriage status.

Another time that copies pop up is in the Cottages. Ruth takes to mimicking the veterans’ behavior, such as “affectionate love punches” with Tommy, in order to fit in. It turns out, the veterans, or people who were already residing in the Cottages before the Hailsham students arrived, base their actions from what they see on television. All of this behavioral mirroring draws attention to individuality and identity. The students at Hailsham are clone organ donors, so one could argue that their lives do not hold meaning. Yet although they are just a copy of someone else, the students still have unique experiences and memories which are portrayed through artwork.

As Tommy points out in his theory about Madame’s gallery, artwork expresses emotion, and therefore individuality. At Hailsham, art is stressed starting from a young age. While this idea seemed a bit strange to me at first, I realize now that the guardians were truly emphasizing the importance of each pupil’s uniqueness. Furthermore, students celebrated each other’s self-expression through the exchanges where students could buy their peers’ artwork using tokens.

In addition to studio art, another form, music, is brought up early on in the book when Kathy finds a Judy Bridgewater cassette tape with her favorite song, “Never Let Me Go.” Kathy explains in one of her flashbacks that she is caught dancing to it while imagining a scenario in which her baby is asking to never be abandoned. This song evokes emotion from Kathy, showing once again that artwork is a means of emotional expression.

Ishiguro’s use of flashback and symbolism also add to the work’s literary merit. The first two parts of the book are told in flashback from Kathy’s point of view as a means of holding onto her memories. As discussed in my previous blog post, flashback adds elements of uncertainty to the story. The reader is reliant on Kathy’s memory, which may or may not be accurate. What she chooses to flashback to illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole (more to come about this in the next blog post :) ).

Symbolism is another literary device that is significant to the story. The book’s title, “Never Let Me Go,” is the name of Kathy’s favorite song. She dances to it early on in Hailsham. Kathy interprets it as a baby telling her mother to never let her go. As a baby, one is vulnerable to the world, with the mother serving as a primary carer. This song, and the title of the book, symbolizes the fear of abandonment and caring for a loved one.

As far as applicability to the AP exam, I could see this story being used for a Question 3 response relating to death, fear of abandonment, or identity. If I were designing a prompt to fit this story, I’d say, “In many novels, point of view plays a key role in understanding the meaning of the work as a whole. Write a well-organized essay based on a book of literary merit in which this is the case.” :). Additionally, I think Never Let Me Go should be added to next year’s curriculum. It’s style and readability is much different than the books we’ve read so far.