NEVER Let me go… I LOVE IT HEREWednesday 19 April 2023

Implication of title. Suggestion of character of protagonists Impact on plot

What’s in a name?

Science Fiction? Lack of rebellious nature. Consider the ways this can be explored…

acceptance of an unambitious status quo

Dystopia?

Allegory? A piece of writing in which a clear message hides underneath the overt subject matter. In this reading, consider what the clones have to “tell” us about the way we live our lives.

Genre

Kathy – follower or independent soul? Ruth – desperate for love or ruthless leader? Tommy- the only one who really feels? From whose perspective do receive

information? What is the effect of this for the reader?

Madame – pointy description, swarm moment (p34-5) significance. Is she “good”?

Guardians – role and description. Lucy p26

Characters

What happens when parents are removed? Role models Hospital carer – how much genuine caring

do we witness? Belongings – What is the significance of

everything being second hand? Nature of education – why are they being

educated at all?

Role of the Cottages

What do you call a school with no holidays?

Kathy as adult Fairy story fears Cromer and Norfolk

So, why does nobody try to escape? Can we shed our own mortality? At what point does placid acceptance become a better life-choice than angry rebellion?

Can they escape?

jonathan peel SGS 2011

“Never Let Me Go”?

So why do they say

The boat scene: Ch 19. Why is it here? – Ishiguro is on record as

stating that there is no symbolic significance to the scene.

SYMBOLISM: barbed wire as boundary and threat The boat as an object no longer regarded as

useful The marshy land – water receded or waiting

for return?

Set piece

PURPOSE: Reacquaint the trio and allow Ruth’s

confession Highlight Ruth’s weakened state Assert the image of degraded materialism

at Kingsfield Foreshadow the eventual demise of

Hailsham and the Hailsham ideal Allow Ruth and Kathy a period of genuine

friendship before Ruth’s completion

More

Tension evident at opening – hooded figures in a grim setting

Pathetic fallacy Lack of narrative certainty Told and not told – reflected in the Kingsfield

in opening paragraphs Use of water as a recurring image Elegiac close allows Ruth comfort and

allows Kathy to close the story on her own terms.

Writing

The VLE in the GCSE Literature support course.

Peel study guide: http://english.edusites.co.uk/index.php/article/a-guide-to-never-let-me-go-by-kazuo-ishiguro/

Online study guide: http://www.gradesaver.com/never-let-me-go/

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