Quote Importance

1 “There have been times over the years when I’ve tried to leave Even in the opening of the novel, the theme of letting go surfaces. Kathy
Hailsham behind, when I’ve told myself I shouldn’t look back so discusses how she feels she should stop focusing on the past, but is unable to
much. But then there came a point when I just stopped resisting.” do this.
(Kathy, Chapter 1)

2 “I’m not sure when the big temper tantrums started. My own memory Our initial introduction of Tommy highlights his temper tantrums, which are one
of it is that Tommy was always known for his temper” (Kathy, of the reasons he is picked on by the other students. It is interesting to see how
Chapter 2) he has one final temper tantrum at the end of the novel, after meeting with
Miss Emily. Despite all of his development, he seems to regress.

3 “You notice everything, don’t you, Kath?” (Tommy to Kathy, Chapter Gives us insight into Kathy’s character; she is caring and perceptive, noticing
2) and caring about things others do not, even as a child. This is one of the things
which later makes her a good carer, and leads to her being a carer for so long
compared to others.

4 “She was furious. But furious deep inside.” (Tommy about Miss Miss Emily is furious about the treatment of the clones and the lack of
Lucy, Chapter 3) information they are given. She clearly wishes she could reveal all and is
frustrated that she cannot.

5 “She was afraid of us in the same way someone might be afraid of Madame is repulsed and disgusted by the students as they are clones, even
spiders.” (Kathy about Madame, Chapter 3) though they are only children at this stage. We see the attitudes of the wider
world to the clones; they have feelings of fear, repugnance, and disgust,
despite what the clones are doing for them.

6 “The first time you glimpse yourself through the eyes of a person like Kathy and the other clones recognise on some level that Madame is treating
that, it’s a cold moment. It’s like walking past a mirror you’ve walked them differently because of what they are, and it upsets them deeply. They feel
past every day of your life, and suddenly it shows you something ostracised and isolated from ‘normal’ people.
else, something troubling and strange.” (Kathy, Chapter 3)
7 “When we lost something precious, and we’d looked and looked and
still couldn’t find it, then we didn’t have to be completely
heartbroken. We still had that last bit of comfort, thinking one day,
when we were grown up, and we were free to travel around the
country, we could always go and find it again in Norfolk.” (Kathy,
Chapter 6)
8 “She just went on standing out there, sobbing and sobbing, staring
at me through the doorway with that same look in her eyes she
always had when she looked at us, like she was seeing something
that gave her the creeps.” (Kathy about Madame, Chapter 6)
9 “The problem, as I see it, is that you’ve been told and not told.”
(Miss Lucy, Chapter 7)
1 “You were brought into this world for a purpose, and your futures, all
0 of them, have been decided.” (Miss Lucy, Chapter 7)
1 “Somewhere underneath, a part of us stayed like that: fearful of the
1 world around us, and - no matter how much we despised ourselves
for it - unable quite to let each other go.” (Kathy, Chapter 10)
1 “We all of us, to varying degrees, believed that when you saw the
2 person you were copied from, you’d get some insight into who you
were deep down, and maybe too, you’d see something of what your
life had in store.” (Kathy about the possibles, Chapter 12)
The students are so innocent and naive that they initially take Miss Emily’s
comment that Norfolk is a ‘lost corner’ seriously, believing that all of their lost
items will end up there. Of course, this does become true for Kathy, finding her
tape there later on, but it still highlights the sheltered lives led by the clones.
Madame sobs when she sees Kathy pretending to dance with the pillow to
‘Never Let Me Go’. Kathy thinks this is because Madame knows the clones
cannot have children, and feels sorry for them, but we later learn that Madame
saw it as more of a reflection of herself, begging the world not to change their
minds about the treatment of clones. Madame is an interesting character
because although she is afraid of the clones, she still advocates for them.
Miss Lucy believes that the clones are not being told enough about the life that
has been set out for them; childhood, the Cottages, caring, donations. They
are being given just enough information, but not all. She feels that they
deserve a full explanation of what their lives will be.
Miss Lucy highlights that the clones have no choices; they will not be able to
get any job they like, travel, marry, etc. They must fulfil their ‘purpose’ and give
their donations, then die.
Kathy once again comments on the effects of their upbringing in Hailsham. Due
to how isolated they were, they retain a lasting sense of fear about the wider
world, and cling to the other Hailsham students after they leave.
Kathy discusses the importance that the clones place on the idea of ‘possibles.
It is a bleak and depressing concept, as the clones use it as a kind of fortune
telling, as though their possible can predict their future, as well as tell them
about who they truly are.
1 “She was awestruck about our being from Hailsham [...] a separate
3 set of rules applied to Hailsham students.” (Kathy, telling us the
perceptions of the veterans towards those from Hailsham, Chapter
12)
1 “Some Hailsham students in the past, in special circumstances, had
4 managed to get a deferral. That this was something you could do if
you were a Hailsham student. You could ask for your donations to
be put back by three, even four years. [...] So long as you qualified.
[...] if you were a boy and a girl, and you were in love with each
other, really, properly in love, and if you could show it, then the
people who run Hailsham, they sorted it out for you. They sorted it
out so you could have a few years together before you began your
donations.” (Chrissie and Rodney, speaking about the idea of
deferrals, Chapter 13)
1 “Even though Tommy was at Hailsham, he isn’t like a real Hailsham
5 student. He was left out of everything, and people were always
laughing at him.” (Ruth about Tommy, Chapter 13)
1 “We all know it. We’re modelled from trash. Junkies, prostitutes,
6 winos, tramps. Convicts, maybe, just so long as they aren’t psychos
[...] If you want to look for possibles, if you want to do it properly,
then you look in the gutter.” (Ruth about possibles, and the students’
origins, Chapter 14)
1 “There were powerful tides tugging us apart by then, and it only
7 needed something like that to finish the task. If we’d understood
back then - who knows? - maybe we’d have kept a tighter hold of
one another. “ (Kathy, talking about the end of her time at the
Cottages, Chapter 17)
We gain insight into how different the upbringing of the Hailsham students is, a
point which is returned to several times in the novel. Within the clones, it
appears that Hailsham is more elite than other places, and as such, that those
from Hailsham are afforded special privileges.
This is the first time we meet the concept of the deferrals, which becomes a
key issue for the clones, including Kathy. The deferrals allow a clone to put off
their donations by three or four years, providing they can prove that they are in
love.
Once again, this is a bleak concept, representing the only possibility of
freedom from their assigned destinies. If deferrals were possible, then the
clones would have a chance to live longer and experience a somewhat more
normal life, having a chance at love and a longer-lasting relationship.
Despite this, even the rumour of the deferrals highlights that there is no
escape; it is only delaying them, not preventing them from happening.
Ruth shows her ability for cruelty and unkindness here, embarrassing and
belittling Tommy in front of others when he tells Chrissie and Rodney that there
was no talk of deferrals at Hailsham. She lashes out rather than admit her lie.
Ruth reveals that some people believe that they are cloned from those who
society looks down on. Although this is never confirmed in the novel, this may
account for some of the stigma surrounding the clones, in particular why those
in society look down on them.
At the end of Kathy’s time in the Cottages, the relationship between her,
Tommy and Ruth has been irrevocably altered. They fight when Ruth reveals to
Tommy during a fight that herself and Kathy had laughed about his animals,
something which happened during a private conversation with Kathy. Kathy
highlights how easy it is for relationships to end, and wishes things had been
different.
1 “It started to dawn on me, I suppose, that a lot of things I’d always After hearing that Hailsham has closed, Kathy realises that many things she
8 assumed I’d plenty of time to get round to doing, I might now have to has taken for granted in life will not last forever, and that she only has a limited
act on pretty soon or else let them go forever.” (Kathy, Chapter 18) time in life. She reflects on her mortality, and how she will need to complete
those things in life she wants soon, before her death, or else let them go.

1 “It should have been you two. I’m not pretending I didn’t always see Ruth admits to Kathy and Tommy that she kept them apart, asking their
9 that. Of course I did, as far back as I can remember. But I kept you forgiveness. She believes that they should have been together, and wants
apart.” (Ruth, about Kathy and Tommy, Chapter 19) them to get a deferral, believing they will be able to prove they are in love.

2 “Poor creatures. What did we do to you? With all our schemes and When Tommy and Kathy seek out Madame for a deferral, she refers to them as
0 plans?” (Madame, Chapter 21) ‘creatures’ highlighting how she perceives them as different and inhuman.
Despite this, she seems genuinely regretful for what herself and others in
Hailsham did to the students, using them for their own goals.

2 “We took away your art because we thought it would reveal your Miss Emily finally explains the reason why students were pushed so much to
1 souls. Or to put it more finely, we did it to prove you had souls at all.” ‘be creative’ - to prove to Hailsham’s investors that clones had souls. Once
(Miss Emily, Chapter 22) again we see how the clones are seen as inhuman.

2 “We demonstrated to the world that if students were reared in Miss Emily explains why Hailsham taught the students about art and literature,
2 humane, cultivated environments, it was possible for them to grow knowing they were being raised to donate and die anyway. They wanted to
as sensitive and intelligent as any ordinary human being.” (Miss prove that clones could learn and be just like any other person.
Emily, Chapter 22)

2 “Shadowy objects in test-tubes” (Miss Emily, Chapter 22) Miss Emily says that the initial impression people had of clones when they first
3 began to be used for donations was as more of an object than a human being.

2 “There wasn’t time to take stock, to ask the sensible questions.” Miss Emily explains why people didn’t feel conflicted about using the clones for
4 (Miss Emily, Chapter 22) their organs. Advances came so quickly and improved things so much, they
were done almost before anyone had considered the ramifications.

2 “We’re all afraid of you. I myself had to fight back my dread of you Miss Emily explains that everyone, even those who are sympathetic, like
5 all almost every day I was at Hailsham.” (Miss Emily, Chapter 22) herself and Madame, fear the clones.
2 “For a moment, it seemed like we were holding onto each other
6 because that was the only way to stop us being swept away into the
night.” (Kathy, Chapter 22)
2 “The current’s too strong. They got to let go, drift apart. That’s how I
7 think it is with us. It’s a shame, Kath, because we’ve loved each
other all our lives. But in the end, we can’t stay together forever.”
(Tommy, Chapter 23)
2 “The way it is, it’s like there’s a line with us on one side and Ruth on
8 the other, and when all’s said and done, I feel sad about that, and I
think she would too if she could see it.” (Kathy, Chapter 23)
2 “The memories I value most, I don’t see them ever fading. I lost
9 Ruth, then I lost Tommy, but I won’t lose my memories of them.”
(Kathy, Chapter 23)
3 “I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, to drive off to
0 wherever it was I was supposed to be.” (Kathy, in the final lines of
the novel, Chapter 23)
Kathy, talking about when she and Tommy embrace each other, after he
screams in fury/upset about their situation. It highlights to us how the clones
only really have each other, and no other family.
After Miss Emily’s revelation that there are no deferrals, Tommy becomes
disheartened and disenchanted. He asks Kathy to stop being his carer,
because he doesn’t want her to see him in the final weeks of his life. He feels
that it is hopeless for them to try and stay together.
Kathy reflects on how herself and Tommy found out everything about the
deferrals, and Ruth didn’t. She feels as though there is a distance and
difference between them now.
As Kathy reflects on her life prior to starting her own donations, she mentions
how your memories can never be taken away from you by others. Although
she has lost both Ruth and Tommy to the donations program, she can keep her
memories of them.
The final lines of the novel are poignant and resigned. We get the impression
that Kathy is unable to truly feel her grief, only briefly indulging her fantasy of
seeing Tommy come over the hill in Norfolk, the ‘lost corner’. At the end, she
appears to be resigned to her future, continuing on as a carer until it is her time
to donate and eventually die.