HORTA 1

Jazmine Horta
English 114B
Professor Ahn
16 April 2014
Never Let Me Go
What is societys definition of being human? Who is human and who is not
human? In Never let me Go by Kauzo Ishiguro Kathy, Tommy and Ruth are students at
Hailsham but arent typical students. They were designed as clones to become donors to
help society become the impossible. Throughout the novel the reader embarks on a
journey through out the lives of these students. As the novel begins the idea of subhuman
lingers through our minds. We notice that the students are dehumanized through the
people they are surrounded with, the space they are placed in, and by not being treated as
if they were human but as if they were animals. In Are they animals or machines?
Measuring dehumanization by Rocio Martinez, we can relate the idea of dehumanization
to the claim she makes about people being treated like machines instead of actual human
beings. Also in Editorial: The Dehumanization of Hampton by McClatchy shows the
majority of disabled being dehumanized by not being looked at as normal people, but as
helpless and useless. The students of Hailsham are not considered humans; they are
donors for the medically ill in society. They are dehumanized throughout the novel by
being treated like animals. In relation to society today, certain places disenfranchise the
working class and the disabled by not viewing them as important and contributes to
dehumanization by treating them unequally.
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Hailsham pinpoints the beginning of where the students are not being treated as
human beings due to the actions and feelings of others that surround them. As we begin
to understand the whole concept of what Hailsham is claimed to be, something strange
surrounds the students occupying the space there. Explained through the scenes in the
novel, students are limited to pursuing actions that come natural to a human being. For
example it isnt appropriate to talk to the opposite sex in public or private manner. They
believe it isnt normal and they would be acting foolish which creates a nonhuman feel.
The guardians mainly influence this odd feeling by showing us that they are not treating
the students as if they were humans but as if they were animals or if they were aliens
from outer space. As Ruth figures out Madame is Scared of us (Ishiguro 33) during a
conversation between the students that questioned why she only comes one or twice; we
see that even the students believe they arent liked as much. They are housed in Hailsham
excluded from society. The barriers separate them from the outside world. Stories that
linger through out the school scare the students into not thinking about crossing them.
The space describes how the students are caged in a limited space like animals and are
afraid from the world that they do not want to get out. Unlike the other guardians Miss
Lucy shows concern and love towards the students. While waiting in the pavilion Miss
Lucy interrupts two students that were discussing their futures, I know you dont mean
any harm. But theres just too much talk like this. I hear it all the time, its been allowed
to go on, and its not right (81). Miss Lucy wants them to understand that their future
have already been set out for them so instead of hoping and dreaming she wants them to
know exactly why they were brought onto earth. She feels that they at least deserve to
understand what they have been designed for. Hailsham is preparing the students for the
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next stage in their life in comparison to how slaughterhouses prepare their animals for
their next step in the process. We also see dehumanization through the cottages where the
students are placed in their teenage years. The cottages were the remains of a farm
(116) which shows that the students are looked as animals because of were they have
placed them. Also in the cottages the students are seen moving in packs or herds, which
causes the reader to observe mimicking of animal like actions in the little space they are
provided with. In Never Let Me Go the students didnt have a chance to be human and
were always looked at differently due to what there mission was on earth. Placing them in
unacceptable living conditions also spurred animal like ideals towards the students.
Workers are shunned their rights as a human being treated as if they were
machines and not as if they were living human beings through unacceptable working
conditions and verbal abuse. In the article Are they animals or machines, two ideas of
dehumanization are being conducted. Humans are not only being seen as animals but also
are being treated as machines in the work place. This is denying the rights to the
individual and also placing them in a lower class in society. Also, the lower class is
automatically seen as animals or machines due to the fact that the poor will just do about
anything to work and accept unreasonable working conditions. A study was conducted
involving words that are said about the workers and what race the group fell under. In
arguing what makes us human Martinez claims Yet these authors consider that the
essence of humanity is our ability to experience feelings (what they call secondary
emotion) (Martinez 2). The idea of animals also have feelings bring us to the conclusion
that our secondary feelings are what make us human and those feelings would consider to
be Happiness, rancor, and bitterness (2). This also can relate to Never Let me go and
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why they had the students of Hailsham draw and paint pictures for the gallery. The
reason for doing this was to see if they had any souls. To determine how close to human
they ideally were. The study describes the way a race acts when in the working place can
determine whether it is animal like or whether it is machine like. To expand further,
workers are also placed in small working places and unacceptable working conditions.
This also can refer to how workers are put together in a tight place just like animals are in
farms, slaughterhouses, etc. Workers who are in positions in these acceptable conditions
are likely to be discriminated towards animals and machines. To conclude the experiment
researchers claimed that the Gypsies were in relation with animal like words, which
distinguished them as animal like. The Germans were in relation with machine like words
and victimized them as machines. Relatively this isnt the only way a person can be
dehumanized there are many other ways including how capable you are of physically
interacting with other human beings and body language.
The disabled are at a disadvantage and are looked down upon by society. Disabled
people are not being treated as regular people because they are isolated and the clich of
them not being able to work or do anything a normal person can do. In the article
Editorial: The dehumanization of Hampton by McClathy he argues that the disabled are
not being treated like human instead they are being mocked because of a disability, but
some of great people of our time like Albert Einstein, a known learning-disabled person,
discovering the theory of relativity. This is despite Franklin Roosevelt, a known
paraplegic, becoming leader of the free world. This is despite Beethoven, with his severe
hearing loss, composing some of the finest music the world has ever known.
(McClarthy). By showing that these people also had a disability shows that people with
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disability can be great if society gave them a chance to bloom. He pointed out that when
the disabled tried to argue about the red-light cameras that were inputted onto
intersections and money was being taken out of there pocket for the cause they were told
to shut up. The percent of the disabled are low so many are isolated from normal people.
They are a small portion of a large city which makes them not as significant as other
people voicing their ideas and opinions. McClathy continues The disabled are denied
life and medical insurance all the time, yet the issue has been ignored. The disabled are
denied job training and entry into colleges because of their disability all the time. The
disabled have been labeled a waste of time and money [..] (McCarthy). The disabled are
not being treated equally when they have the right to voice out their opinion. This can
relate to Never Let me go by denying the students of Hailsham a future that they can live
instead they retain them from following any of their dreams.
As a final point the students of Hailsham deserve to be treated as human beings
instead of animals. They came into the world to help and instead of thanking them for
their assistance society labeled them as animals. Unfortunately many failed to see how
amazing the donors did by sacrificing their lives for the lives of others. Miss Lucy was
the only guardian risking her job to care for the students but at the end it was her who
was asked to leave Hailsham. In Rocio Martinez article she was able to figure out how
can you determine dehumanization between groups. In McCarthys article he was
determined to have the disabled voice heard and stop the discrimination towards people
with disability. The point of dehumanization to certain groups is wrong. What has
humanity come to when people arent treated as people but as animals or machines?