The Theme of Secrets in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go

Two types of secrets exist in the world: ones that are kept and ones that are shared. In Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, the secrets of the students at Hailsham begin as those that are kept. Isolated from the real world, these students only exist to become organ donors in the future. The narrator and main character, Kathy H., unveils these secrets and discovers her purpose. Ishiguro explores the theme of secrets through the setting, the guardians, and the clones. Through the reentering of friends from the past, Kathy makes connections that open an entirely new idea to our modern world.

Nothing would be the same if it happened in a different place. The same applies in novels. The first setting Kathy recalls is Hailsham. The arrival of the students is never discussed, but it is implied that they are there from birth until the later years of being a teenager. Hailsham exists in the countryside of an English town, but the only description is given by Kathy when she reminiscences while driving. She says, “I might pass a corner of a misty field, or see part of a large house in the distance as I come down the side of a valley” (Ishiguro 6). At Hailsham, Kathy and her friends attend classes, but they are not classes students would attend at a normal school. The students learn art and poetry instead of math and science. Readers may see it as rather odd and it is questionable whether they will be ready for the real world. As the novel goes on, Ishiguro reveals the purpose. The classes taught at Hailsham are used to help the “students” be more human (Whitehead 56). At the beginning of their stay at Hailsham, many of the students wonder why they are there. This uncertainty adds to the theme of secrecy. Throughout thei...

... middle of paper ...

...more humane than most (Whitehead 68). Throughout their lives, the clones are only told what to do and how to live. They work for those they do not know. Every unidentified person adds to the secrecy of the novel. The clones never ask questions and they are never given the opportunity to prove themselves.

In Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, a whole new world becomes fiction. The science of cloning and organ harvesting covered by secrets from those in charge brings out an interesting idea. Although the idea of raising clones to become donors is unacceptable in our current society, it gives in to the thoughts of what our government could decide to do but hide away from public eye. Could the reaction now be different from what it would have been in the setting time 20 years ago? Secrets can damage a lot, but in this case, the secrets might be protecting more.