The Importance Of Race In Never Let Me Go

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Both the text and film, Never Let Me Go, is hardly overt in their focus on race, and its this lack of focus that begs the question of whether or not this was intentional throughout both mediums. While the lack of people of color in Romanek's Never Let Me Go is not only jarringly obvious and potentially intentional, the original novel by Kazuo Ishiguro allows for more interpretation on the readers part. The lack of representation of minorities juxtaposes the general nature of character description within the novel, that allows the reader to impart their own ideas of race upon certain characters. Even our incredibly active narrator, Kathy, is ambiguous in both Romanek’s and Ishiguro’s works. While the Ishiguro’s text lacks racial identifiers, …show more content…

Romanek may have been intentional in that this lack of diversity surfaces an eerie question of race and its connection to Never Let Me Go’s driving plotline. The medium, film, shows what may be considered racial interpretations in a much more concrete fashion by providing the viewer premeditated imagery. This is inevitable considering you cannot create a film without imparting an image to upon your audience. In the opening scene after we have been introduced to Kathy while Tommy is completing, the children of Hailsham have been corralled into an assembly hall because a cigarette has been found near one of the dormitories. (Never Let Me Go, Romanek, 3:59) Here Romanek allows the audience to see beyond Kathy’s perspective. The scene begins with multiple shots of the children of Hailsham, all of which are white. They are also singing in a way reminiscent of Nazi propaganda, speaking of the loyalty and love they have for the school. There are similar sentiments when the headmistress says “I will not be coerced,” while the children clap vigorously (Never Let Me Go, Romanek, 26:13). This homogeneity at times includes smaller, less telling details such as the same gray-toned clothing the children wear as well as the characteristic haircuts each gender of child

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