Victimhood: The Case of Never Let Me Go
Introduction
Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro is a novel that can be described by the characterization of emotional scenes ranges. Generally, the novel describes the perfect examples of an identity crisis. This is portrayed by the Hailsham children who are desperate to fully understand the objective of their bodies’ minds and lives. These children are able to attain an identity sense via their treasured creativity, artwork, collections as well as the delicate social structures that they operate in. The novel presents a society that is dystopian which only centers on identity hunt as well as meaning via self-expression and curiosity. The novel is additionally a portrayal of gripping characters that are stripped of their own identities and labeled with mere identities (ISHIGURO, 3, 2005). The novel is set in the middle of 1990’s in Britain thus portraying the bleak world in which the cloning characters are socially acceptable only because of the aim of becoming actual donors of organs in the actual world. The novel aims it focus on three major characters, Tommy, Kathy and Ruth who are all clones. This essay will, therefore, seek to establish how victimhood is portrayed in Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro.
Based on the novel human imperfection and disease can disconnect individuals from the peripheral world. This often causes individuals to forget their present lives in search for their identity thus losing their future. Victimhood is described as a situation in which an individual feels offended or is offended by a destructive action which is subjective by others. Victimhood in the novel is displayed through the theme of conformity (ISHIGURO, 160, 2005). This is the general behavior of an individual in accordance with social expectations, standards of conventions. The individual is therefore characterized by following the desires of the majority rather than what they feel or are meant to venture in. the characters presented in the novel places a cultural payment based on conformity. This, therefore, presents victimhood because they feel offended by the social standards which have been developed. For instance repeatedly, Kathy emphasizes on her typical nature and on the other side Ruth blatantly duplicates older student’s gestures. Through the characters conformity, the system of donating organs seems to be running smoothly since everybody is fully willing to allow docilely falling into the donor’s fate. The characters are victims of the societal standards and expectations which requires them to be donors in the actual world. This is, therefore, offensive because based on the real identities of the individuals the activities are not what they really are. The societal standards, therefore, deny them the opportunities to identify who they are and what they want to do (ISHIGURO, 186, 2005). The society is therefore characterized by restricted standards which are aimed at marginalizing the conducts of the individuals through the strict conduct codes.
Conformity is crucial in illustrating how victimhood is achieved in Never Let Me Go. However, the author fails in providing solutions to conformity. This is because through the portrayal of all the character there are no characters that are involved in rebellion acts except Tommy tantrum field brief. Victimhood is additionally illustrated through willful ignorance of the societal issues as well as individual issues. The characters are portrayed to be shying away from the pressing need to acquire information even in situations when they feel that they do not what to be involved in what the societal standards accepts them to comply with. The characters feel offended because they are required to do things that they feel are offensive by they fail in raising questions. Ishiguro, therefore, suggests that it is the willful ignorance that is the major mechanism of social injustices perpetuation (ISHIGURO, 144, 2005).
According to Thatcherism rather than regulating and planning individuals’ lives and business it is the responsibility of the government to pave the way by providing freedom to the conducts. Thatcherism depicts a small state and market belief that is guided by freedom (BONI, 12, 2011). The society should, therefore, be constrained to the bare fundamentals such as currency and defense and all the other elements should be left to the societal individuals in order for them to make their individual decisions thus taking responsibility for their lives (BONI, 16, 2011). However, the society depicted by the novel Never Let Me Go is not based on Thatcherism leadership style because the society fails in allowing individuals to make their personalized decisions. The leadership fails to focus on the governing elements such as monetarism and defense thus focusing on controlling the general lives of individuals. The society denies the individuals the freedom to practice things based on their individual choices. The lack of freedom to choices thus hindered social, economic and political development as individuals are guided by societal philosophy. The philosophy, therefore, failed in permitting individuals to interact and communicate in order to hinder thoughts development thus making them victims.
The characters are victims of societal injustices because of they are free will (ISHIGURO, 144, 2005). Based on the novel all the clones are not capable of changing their fates which are directed as organ donors but this is mainly influenced by their free wills which affect other general elements in their lives. For instance, Ruth fails to ever achieve her dream to work in an office which thus shows how the portrayed social restrictions affected her dreams. On the other hand, Kathy gets little precious time to enjoy with Tommy. Ishiguro is effective in illustrating how the lack of free will in the novel is generated from which in turn results in victimhood portrayal. For example, Ruth never attempts to work in an office in order to achieve her dream despite the restriction by the societal standards. Therefore her unhappy life which is developed by living a life with the wrong identity may additionally have been influenced by the lack of initiative to pursue her goal. However, the societal system is more effective in the role of her unhappy life because through the developed expectations and standards the ability to develop thoughts that were outside those set by the society was hindered (ISHIGURO, 148, 2005).
In the novel Never Let Me Go the society is marginalized. This is the situation by which the policies and rules are centralized where all the rules and standards are set by the society. Freedom is therefore not distributed equally as it does not permit individuals to act on their own basis. Homo Sacer is the exception state. According to Agamben sovereign power establishes itself via the production of based on bare and human life exclusion (DOUSSAN, 63, 2013). This is related to the novel because individuals are expected to act in accordance with the societal laws and standards in order to be included. Those that act against the norms is therefore excluding. In this, the sovereign is responsible for deciding who lives being recognized as part of the community and that that will not (ISHIGURO, 160, 2005).
Due to marginalization communication was hindered. Communication failure is an element that best illustrates victimhood. The section of the novel’s elegiac and heartbreaking ending can be attributed to the failure to communicate with the characters. The failure to communicate generates pivotal moments in the plotting of the novel (ISHIGURO, 154, 2005). For instance, the mocking of Tommy’s drawing illustrates how communication was effectively a failure in the society. The communication barriers are influenced by societal barriers which are beyond the capacity of the characters. For instance due to the fear of being excluded from the society Ruth fails to find out on whether her plan to unite Tommy and Kathy worked (ISHIGURO, 162, 2005). The society is, therefore, effective in offending the capability and the will of the characters to communicate because it places strict restrictions that hinder the interactions of individuals. The characters are therefore offended because they are intended to free interaction and communication which is not what their society expects from them.
From the theme of hope that is portrayed in the novel, it is clear that victimhood highly conflicts. Despite the fact that individuals feel offended by societal standards and expectations hope is presented in the novel o make the characters feel better thus permitting them to live better lives. From the novel the clones are much happy when they are in the cottages because they hold the thought that they can apply deferrals at the time which they wish to. The rumor is accepted by Emily as it is crucial in providing hope t the individuals (ISHIGURO, 194, 2005). Nonetheless in the universe of the novel hope is only generated from delusions and falsehoods from the hope of Kathy which holds that at the end Tommy will break up with Ruth to the erroneous hope provided by anticipated deferral curriculum.
The characters are offended by the societal obligation which is mainly influenced by a personal commitment to the society. The donation program for organs is based on the thought that the characters owe their full reside to the people (ISHIGURO, 94, 2005). The principle is, therefore, wrong because the individuals are entitled to self-identity and self-effort. This is, therefore, an offense to the characters because the assumption of the society hinders their freedom to engage in things that may better their lives. The individuals are therefore involved in pleasing the society rather than building their individual dream which thus makes them unhappy. The clones feel offended by the expectations that are drawn by the society thus preventing them from living a life characterized by freedom. From the actual interrogation point of the novel, Ruth and Tommy should live a happy life because they deserve it and they should, therefore, spend quality moments together which they never achieve. The clones did not live a happy life because they were denied their self-identities by the society as it labeled them with mere identities which never made them better. The societal is portrayed as a god in the novel and therefore those that opposed its standards may be playing with their God. Ishiguro explores how the characters may play with their god in the novel (ISHIGURO, 96, 2005).
Questionably the characters who try to transform their fate as illustrated by the societal standards are playing their God because they can never change what is meant for them (ISHIGURO, 101, 2005). The assumption is, therefore, offensive to the characters because they are entitled to determining their own fate that is not directed by the society. However even as the situation makes the characters feel offended by the nature of the expectations they suffer silently as the destructive subjection hinders their capabilities. The clones wish that the guardians can bend the laws and rules and allow them to engage in special things. This, therefore, demonstrates that the clones are complete humans with human desires to the exposure of human experience. This, therefore, shows the extent in which the strict rules that are developed at Hailsham discourage individual interaction as well as intimacy. Any bond with a keeper must, therefore, be conducted in secret because it is forbidden. This is illustrated by the relationship that exists between Tommy and Ruth who must remain secret at all times. Based on Kathy’s explanation on the fact that the students are not engaged in often hugging illustrates extend at which the societal standards hindered the characters from interacting (ISHIGURO, 86, 2005).
The novel Never Let Me Go is connected to Victorian value because it depicts the set of societal values that espouses sexual constraint, low crime tolerance, and a strict conduct code. The set of values is mainly aimed at demonstrating good morals that are developed by the society (LOPICIC, & ILIC, 6, 2014). From the novel, there are strict rules that restrict sexual tolerance and therefore those having intimate relationships are bound to keep them hidden. The individuals are therefore expected to maintain good morals by doing only those things that the society permits them to do. The policies that are developed by the society are therefore purposed to shape the morals of the students. Therefore the society holds low patience to criminal activities thus the individuals are not involved in the questioning of the laws. The clones’ fails to reel even when they felt that the society denied them the opportunity to do things that they felt were good.
From Never Let Me Go it is clear that individuals view the societal laws and standards as the right things thus failing to rebel. According to Foucault governmentality is a conduct of conduct in which the government tries to control and evaluate the behaviors of individuals based on calculated means. This is, therefore, different from t code of discipline which attempts to reforms individuals via supervision in ensuring they are well-being (DEAN, 16, 2010). Governmentality can thus be described as the mode of thinking in regard to the government as being the right form in which things should be done and also achieved. The governing in the novel is not purposed for the welfare of the individuals but to only benefit a few individuals at the expense of the society. Foucault defines the existence of arts as a voluntary and reflective practices in which individuals develop their own conduct rules thus seeking to transform themselves through the developmental of moral values that are capable of achieving a given criteria level. This philosophy is not portrayed in the novel as individuals are denied the opportunity to transform themselves based on the moral criteria that they believe in. In the novel Never Let Me Go Ishiguro demonstrates human intimacy as the only form in which clones rebels against the general system of conventions (DEAN, 17, 2010).
In conclusion, the novel Never Let Me Go victimhood is well portrayed. The situation is mainly created by the societal governance which hinders individuals from making personalized decisions. The society, therefore, expects the individuals to fulfill its expectations thus leading to destructive effects on individual lives. The society should thus rule based Thatcherism which aims at ensuring that it governs the well-being of individuals rather than their individual choices.
References
BONI, A. (2011). Thatcherism revisited. [S.l.], Grin Verlag Ohg.
DEAN, M. (2010). Governmentality: power and rule in modern society. London, SAGE.
DOUSSAN, J. (2013). Time, language, and visuality in Agamben's philosophy. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1431364.
ISHIGURO, K. (2005). Never Let Me Go. New York, Alfred A. Knopf. http://www.amazon.com/Never-Let-Me-Go-ebook/dp/B000FCK2TW.
LOPICIC, V., & ILIC, B. M. (2014). Values Across Cultures and Times. Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1656495.
