Never Let Me Go

Miss Emily talks to Tommy and Kathy. She refers to them as good examples of the Hailsham project but warns that she will depart soon as men are coming to take away a furniture piece she intends to sell. Tommy and Kathy are not the first couple to mistakenly seek out a deferral. Since the closure of Hailsham, the regularity of the requests has waned. Miss Emily believes that the rumor about the referrals sprang up organically among the donors, and she confirms that the rumors are false. Deferrals do not exist and have never existed.

The doorbell rings, but the men outside have not come for the furniture. Miss Emily continues even though she admits that talking to former students is against the regulations. She explains that the Gallery does exist and is now entirely contained inside the house in which they sit. The Gallery was an attempt to prove that the clone children had souls. When the cloning program began, many people in the public refused to believe that the clones could have souls. Many of the clones were raised in far worse conditions than Hailsham, and the conditions will worsen now that Hailsham is gone. Miss Emily was part of a movement that sought to prove that the clones should be treated humanely. If they were, they could grow to be as intelligent and as sensitive “as any ordinary human being” (155). The Gallery was an attempt to demonstrate this humanity to the outside world.

Miss Emily begins a history lesson on the history of the pro-clone protest movement, but Kathy can barely listen. The scientific breakthrough that followed World War II happened in so quickly that people did not have time to ask questions about morality. Many incurable conditions could suddenly be cured. By the time the questions became mainstream, people refused to give up the medical progress that had been made. Society thought the treatment of the clones was a price worth paying for a cure for cancer. The Hailsham project and the Gallery tried to change this perspective until a scientist named James Morningdale tried to create clones with superhuman abilities. The resulting Morningdale scandal destroyed the pro-clone movement because people began to see clones as a threat to wider society. The clones were pushed back into the shadows of society, where they could be happily ignored. Hailsham lost its funding and was forced to close. Nothing like it exists anymore. All that is left are “government homes” and the mountains of debt that Miss Emily and Madame have accrued.

Miss Emily concedes that her guests may feel like nothing more than “pawns in a game” (157), but she assures them that she fought hard for the limited life they did lead. Just before Miss Emily must leave with her furniture, Tommy asks about Miss Lucy. Miss Emily says that Miss Lucy’s departure was more of an internal matter. Miss Lucy believed the students should be told more about their futures, but Miss Emily felt Miss Lucy’s suggestions were too idealistic and not practical. The point of Hailsham was to shelter children, Miss Emily believes, and any chance of a happy childhood would have been undermined by Miss Lucy’s suggestions.

The men begin to remove the furniture, and Kathy knows that she will have to leave soon. She asks about Madame’s cold treatment of the clones. Miss Emily sharply rejects this suggestion and admits that she was also occasionally afraid of her students but never let her feelings get in the way of her work.

Miss Emily turns her attention to the furniture, so Kathy and Tommy try to make a quiet exit. They encounter Madame alone on the sidewalk. She admits that she still occasionally thinks about the time she saw Kathy dancing with a pillow in her room. Kathy asks why Madame cried on that day. Madame confesses that the sight of the girl with the pillow was “full of sadness” (160), and it reminded her of the harshness and the cruelness of the modern world. Kathy seemed to be pleading with the old world to “never let her go” (161). Madame tells Tommy and Kathy that she wishes she could help them but they are now on their own.

Tommy and Kathy travel back to the facility and hardly mention their conversation. Eventually Tommy announces that he sides with Miss Lucy over Miss Emily. Something about the tone of his voice makes Kathy worried. He asks her to pull over, and she obliges. The car stops on an unlit road. Tommy exits the car, wanders out into the darkness, and screams. Kathy runs to him but gets lost in the field. Eventually she follows his guttural sounds. She grabs him and holds him tight. He returns the embrace and finally calms down. They return to the car. Tommy clutches his animal drawings as they drive home. Kathy wonders whether his childhood anger problems came from his early awareness of the true nature of their lives. 

The relationship between Kathy and Tommy begins to change about a week after the meeting. He becomes cagier and identifies himself more with the other donors than with her. The atmosphere changes between them, and Kathy wonders whether he resents her. She slightly resents him whenever he dismisses her thoughts because she is not yet a donor. Tommy is told that his fourth donation is scheduled. Kathy knows that the fourth donation raises many difficult questions, and she wishes that they would talk about them, but they do not.

Tommy and Kathy walk together around the facility grounds a short time later. He surprises her by suggesting that he should get a different carer. He is not sure he wants her to be his carer through “this last bit” (166). Kathy references Ruth’s dying wish, but Tommy insists that Ruth would understand because she was a donor. Kathy is hurt. She walks away, thinking about how he has once again divided her from himself and Ruth. Kathy agrees to find Tommy a new carer. They discuss the importance of the carers. Kathy believes carers are vital, while Tommy believes that donors will continue all the same. He tells her that he does want to fight and that he is sad that they have loved each other for so long but they “can’t stay together forever” (167).

They spend their remaining time together when they can. Kathy remembers her last visit. They share a stilted, sad conversation. Kathy asks Tommy whether he is glad Ruth completed before she found out the truth about Hailsham. He notes that Ruth was always different from Kathy and himself: She always wanted to believe while they always wanted to know the truth. Kathy agrees at the time, but in the future, her views become more complicated. Kathy wishes that Ruth had died with the same knowledge as herself and Tommy. Kathy and Tommy bid a quiet farewell. Kathy drives away.

Sometime later, a donor tells Kathy that memories fade so quickly. She does not agree as she will not let her memories of Ruth and Tommy fade away. She still thinks about Hailsham and always scans the scenery while driving in case she spots the old school. Kathy knows that she will stop being a carer soon. Her one act of indulgence comes shortly after she hears that Tommy has completed. She drives to Norfolk and becomes lost on the roads. She stops beside a ploughed field and sees pieces of junk caught on a barbed wire fence. Kathy wonders whether Norfolk might really be the home for lost things. She imagines everything that she has lost since childhood and pictures the distant figure of Tommy appearing over the hill. The image is nothing more than a fantasy. She cries a little and then returns to her car to go wherever she is “supposed to be” (170).