Mood

"A look had appeared in Tommy's eyes that made me catch my breath. It was one I hadn't seem for a long time and that belonged to the Tommy who'd had to be barricaded inside a classroom while he kicked over desks." - p. 155

The general mood from the trip to Norfolk, to my understanding, is an uncomfortable atmosphere where no one is truly acting like themselves. Chrissie and Rodney lied to Ruth about seeing her possible. Ruth is trying so hard to impress them, that she totally disregards Tommy and Kathy's feelings. The entire trip just sounded awkward. It seems like Ruth is that typical girl who wants so badly to be popular that she's willing to treat her real friends like dirt. I don't know why Tommy and Kathy put up with her. She doesn't sound like a good friend at all. 


The whole scene at the restaurant where Ruth basically makes fun of Tommy and Kathy reminds me of a Full House episode. I knew watching that show every day for years would come in handy some day! In the episode, Kimmy Gibbler befriends two older girls who seem so mature. She ditches DJ for them and realizes eventually that they were just using her. I think that's probably what is going to happen to Ruth eventually, if it's not already happening now.

Antithesis

"In those first months at the Cottages, our friendship had stayed intact because, on my side at least, I'd had this notion there were two quite separate Ruths." - p. 129

The antithesis in this chapter comes from Kathy's description of Ruth's split personalities. She can best be described as two-faced.

Just as I suspected, Ruth cares more about what people think of her than most people. I think she feels like the veterans are constantly judging her every move. She's very self conscious around them, which means she'll do anything to please them. I think this might be because she and Tommy had been considered a respected couple at Hailsham, and now the veterans see them as just more new kids at the Cottages. But then, Kathy describes Ruth in a way that makes her sound like an incredible best friend. The two of them talk and enjoy each others company just like my friends and I do,  and they also get over their petty fights and go back to normal by bedtime. They fight a lot more than my friends and I, but the way they can just talk and talk and talk together reminds me a lot of my best friends. I've figured out that Ruth and Kathy stay friends, because Kathy talks about caring for her in Dover. This is very reassuring, but it also makes me wonder what happened to make it that way.

Coping with the Cottages

"In those early months, we'd somehow developed this idea that how well you were settling in at the Cottages - how well you were coping - was somehow reflected by how many books you'd read." - p. 123

The Cottages seem like a small scale version of Hailsham. It can't be too positive if it's something they have to cope with. They still have people from the real world who seem to be judging them for being different. They still have to deal with the stress of couples and not looking too immature. Kathy is still friends with the exact same people, and she is still, I think, secretly very jealous of Ruth. I don't know if she's jealous of Ruth's relationship with Tommy, her new friends, or her apparent intelligence. So far, the Cottages seem to be bringing out the worst in people. They all are trying way to hard to impress each other. I hope Ruth and Kathy can come to an understanding soon, but mainly I just want Ruth and Tommy to break up. Tommy seems to be too nice and genuine for Ruth.

Satire? Maybe?

"If you can't find someone with whom you truly wish to share this experience, then don't!" - p. 98

There are so many thoughts running around in my head right now, so I'm going to use bullet points.

• I googled this movie because I wanted to know what charactrrs looked like, and I realized they have an incredibly attractive cast. Watching this movie when I'm done reading is probably my number one motivation right now. It's killing me to see videos and trailers when I know I can't watch them because they'll give too much away.

• Tommy and Ruth dated? What? From the beginning, Kathy has stuck with Tommy and Ruth has always been kind of annoying and arrogant in my opinion. If Tommy and Kathy don't end up together or something terrible happens I will be very upset. 

• Finally to the actual literary point: I think the entire eighth chapter is making fun of our current culture's obsession with sex. The satirical advice given to the students is basically "politically correct" advice given to teenagers by the media today. They're told that sex is "special" and they just need to be careful.  So naturally, sex is the normal, popular thing at Hailsham. The same is true in shows like Secret Like of the American Teenager, 90210, and Teen Mom. Of course these shows weren't around in 2005, when the book was first published, but media was still the same. Pressure to have sex is virtually everywhere, and I think Ishiguro was pointing out how outrageous it can be sometimes.

Lots of Connections

"You were brought into the world for a purpose, and your futures, all of them, have been decided." - p. 81

So the purpose of these kids lives is simply to donate their vital organs. I don't think it's a half bad idea, except for the fact that it totally takes advantage of letting people respectable human lives. This chapter brought about many connections to Brave New World. They both discuss technological advances that our society has developed, but they are taken to an extreme. The mass cloning if Brave New World is similar to the mass organ donation in Never Let Me Go. For the first time in Never Let Me Go, sex is discussed. It was a very popular discussion in Brave New World, and I think it will probably become more prominent in Never Let Me Go soon. The main difference I've seen is that the kids at Hailsham are taught that sex is a special thing to the outside world and they must treat it that way if they are ever to leave. In the world state, they had no consideration to how other cultures felt about things. They were ignorant to the point of being slightly unintelligent. The last similarity I noticed was that certain people in both communities are very educated about the outside world, but they don't like to share that fact. The Director knew all about the savage reservation, but that was not something to brag about. Miss Lucy seems to know things that no one else does, but she is also troubled by something. I think it  has something to do with the world beyond Hailsham, but I'm not sure what yet.

Imagery

"There'd be little villages with streams going through them, white monuments on hillsides, old churches beside fields; if she was telling us about a coastal place, there'd be beaches crowded with people, cliffs with seagulls." - pg. 65

The imagery used here sounds absolutely beautiful! Too bad Kathy and her peers have never seen it for themselves. I'm assuming they're confined to the countryside in England where the school was built. Kathy says that she's traveled throughout different counties as a carer, but I don't know exactly what that means. She seemed to be a little more knowledgeable about the outside world than some others as a child.

I'm also very curious about Norfolk. It seems so secretive and I think there may be something more there. Apparently lost things end up in Norfolk? And Kathy has been there? I'm a little confused, but I'm sure it'll clear up soon.

Just in case anyone was wondering (because I know I was), this is what the Norfolk coast looks like.

Blair Witch Project forest?!

"I certainly wasn't the only one of my age to feel their presence day and night. When it got bad, it was like they cast a shadow over the whole of Hailsham; all you had to do was turn your head or move towards a window and there they'd be, looming in the distance." p. 50

The creepy woods at Hailsham bring one thing to my mind - The Blair Witch Project. I watched this movie the summer before my freshman year, and I was terrified to say the least. The stories the Hailsham kids hear about this mysterious place paint a vivid picture of the woods in Maryland where the Blair Witch Project supposedly took place. The connection I made is really helping me understand how Kathy and Ruth feel about the woods. I'm legitimately scared for them to ever go there. I can see it now - they find a little stick man made of tree branches and before you know it they're disappearing and standing in corners like zombies. Hopefully this doesn't happen, but if anything like it does I can guarantee I'll be thoroughly creeped out. This whole situation with the secret guard, kidnapping plot, and Kathy being isolated from her group of friends strikes me as odd. I personally think the woods will come into play soon. I don't know how or when, but there seems to be something very strange about them; if this book is anything like Brave New World, then strange is a fairly prominent characteristic.

Writing this blog made me really want to watch The Blair Witch Project, so just in case you were wondering I'm going to go rent it now. So I'll probably be curled up in a corner for the rest of the night.