This paper deals with the novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and explores the feeling of unease established by the author. The theoretical framework for this paper is based on questions of humanity and thus makes use of existentialism as established by Sartre and Kierkegaard. Initially the essay explores how the setting of the novel helps establish a familiar world with unfamiliar elements. After that questions of humanity are raised and how these questions relate to the clones by showing that the clones have human qualities yet are not treated as human. These questions are expanded in the following part about ethical issues and it is shown that the reader is tempted by the author to cross certain ethical boundaries leading to a feeling of unease. Special attention is given to freedom of choice in the third part of the analysis and it is shown how the choices of the clones are very limited, especially if they are considered human. The fourth part then discusses the narrative perspective and how the narrator Kathy H. is used by the author to establish a connection and a perception of the narrator as human.

The present essay undertakes a structuralist analysis of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go, drawing upon the actantial analysis of plot developed by A. J. Greimas, as developed by Louis Hébert. My central claim is that the plot revolves around the protagonist's contradictory desire to find love with her childhood friend Tommy, while at the same time retaining her friendship with another childhood friend, Ruth. The essay suggests that this contradiction contributes to the complex plot where the characters' actantial functions shift frequently. Furthermore, the essay makes a distinction between two different perspectives, namely Kathy's as protagonist, and Kathy's as narrator. This distinction elucidates how narration in Never Let Me Go affects the plot.

The idea of witnessing through the lense of cultural trauma is one which has been described by Dominick LaCapra and others as a encompassing and far reaching from the private to the public spheres. In some cases, when trauma is so overwhelming, the response is to remain silent and do nothing to acknowledge acceptance of the causing factors of the cultural trauma. Novelists such as Kazuo Ishiguro employ various methods of discussing cultural trauma in their works. Ishiguro’s novels, Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day harbor narrators whose inner traumas reflect the trauma of the culture at large. The silent spaces in these novels arise in situations where the extreme measures taken by governing entities is also clearly stated, particularly in their discussions of the Holocaust and World War II.

The focus of this essay is Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. My central claim is that a theme of belonging underpins the novel and is recurrent in a number of different ways. In my reading, I utilise Jean Baudrillard’s postmodern critical concepts to produce this interpretation. I argue that the theme of belonging can be interpreted using Baudrillard’s loss of the real and hyperreal concepts. The usefulness of these concepts is primarily based on the element of clones and cloning in the narrative. Baudrillard’s theories deal with signs and images that do not correspond with the realities that they are meant to represent, mirroring the predicament of the Hailsham students in Never Let Me Go. My essay presents three main areas of discussion in relation to the theme of belonging. Firstly, Hailsham and the students are examined using the loss of the real/hyperreal concepts. The second area deals with belongings as a recurrent motif. In my reading, the dual meaning of the word belonging is an important factor in identifying the theme. This particular discussion deals also with ownership. The final area of discussion revolves around the issue of genre, or rather genres. The novel’s mixture of character drama and science-fiction dystopia is discussed in relation to the loss of the real/hyperreal. / Uppsatsens fokus är Kazuo Ishiguros Never Let Me Go. Min huvudtes är att det finns ett tema av tillhörighet som utmärker romanen. I min läsning applicerar jag Jean Baudrillards postmoderna kritiska begrepp i tolkningen av texten. I uppsatsen argumenterar jag att temat av tillhörighet kan tolkas med hjälp Baudrillards begrepp förlust av verkligheten samt hyperverkligheten. Användbarheten av dessa begrepp bygger på förekomsten av kloner och kloning i texten. Baudrillards teorier handlar om tecken och bilder som ej motsvarar verkligheten på ett tydligt sätt, och denna brist på korrespondens mellan verklighet och representation avspeglar Hailsham-elevernas situation i Never Let Me Go. Min uppsats har tre huvuddiskussioner i förhållande till temat tillhörighet. För det första, undersöks Hailsham och eleverna med med hjälp av begreppen förlust av verkligheten/hyperverkligheten. Andra diskussionsområden handlar om tillhörighet/er som återkommande tema. I min läsning, är det faktum att ordet tillhörighet har två definitioner en viktig aspekt när man ska identifiera temat. Denna diskussion handlar också om äganderätt. Den sista diskussionen handlar om romanens genre, eller genrer. Även romanens blandning av karaktärsdrama och science-fictiondystopi diskuteras i förhållande till Baudrillards begrepp förlust av verkligheten/hyperverkligheten.

Kazuo Ishiguro's novels The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go exhibit many of the same characteristics as his other works. Out of all of those works, however, only these two novels have been adapted to film as of yet. Because of Ishiguro's reliance on first-person narration and point-of-view his novels are particularly more problematic to adapt to screen. This phenomenon is partially due to the audio-visually dependent medium of film and the camera lens' limitations when it comes to exhibiting character interiority. Therefore, the effect of the translation to screen for both of these films is a shift in how the viewing audience responds to the characters as both characters and as human beings. This shift at times augments, expands, or changes the philosophical implications of Ishiguro's works. This paper explores those shifts and permutations and argues that they can ultimately lead to a more empathetic connection between the viewer and the characters in the stories.

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