One of the things about this novel that I have really enjoyed
is the writing style. The story is told through the perspective of one of the
characters, which is quite refreshing; it can also be subtly influential to the
reader’s perception of the events that go on in Hailsham and in the characters’
lives. Although Kathy seems to the reader to be a good person, telling the stories
of her life as they occurred, there is no way to know this for sure. It may be
a stretch to venture that Kathy would lie to the reader, but it is not
unreasonable to believe that she may have left out important details or
unintentionally inserted her own biases into the retelling. On page 13, towards
the very beginning, she even says “This was all a long time ago, so I may have
some of it wrong,” (Ishiguro). In this way, Kathy is an unreliable narrator,
however good her intentions may be.
In this style of storytelling, the reader is restricted to
Kathy’s knowledge and point of view. But this is true of any first-person point
of view, which is a very common writing style in young adult fiction. Unlike a typical
first-person narrative, however, in Never
Let Me Go the reader is looking back with Kathy on her life. So although
information is still limited to what Kathy knows, she has more information in
hindsight than the typical character in a first-person narrative might.
The narration style in this novel is second-person point of
view, in that Kathy is addressing the reader as “you,” as if they were a fellow
clone. On multiple occasions throughout the novel, she says to the reader “I
don’t know how it was where you were,” (13). This technique has a few effects
on the piece. Firstly, it immerses the reader further into the story. The
reader becomes one of the characters in the book, and therefore can further relate
to and connect with the other characters. Next, and perhaps partially because
of this immersion, the narrator becomes humanized. The conversational style of
the book may feel reminiscent of a casual talk with a friend, if not in subject
matter, at least in tone. Ishiguro works hard throughout the novel, using many
different tools, to humanize these clones, and this seems to be one of his most
effective, yet most subtle, tactics. Overall, I find this narrative style a
useful technique for Ishiguro to accomplish his goals within the novel, and
very interesting and fun to read.
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ReplyDeleteI respectfully disagree to your point in which you claim Kathy is an unreliable narrator. While I understand your concern and evidence I believe that her not being able to recall every detail of her past doesn’t make her uncredible, but human and relatable. One thing Kathy is able to do well is remember how she felt during events. She recalls while having free time in Norfolk with Tommy, “Everything suddenly felt perfect...it was like suddenly every cloud had blown away, and we had nothing but fun and laughter before us” (171). Moments like these really transport the reader into the story to understand Kathy’s past as emotion is more real to a reader than any single detail left out could be.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that the writing style significantly serves a purpose to humanize Kathy and connect more to readers while the plot and situations may be unfamiliar. Words like “carer” and “donor” are thrown around with little context and are extremely confusing. The welcoming style of writing though, invites readers to continue and gives them a place in the novel when Kathy says , “I should explain a bit here about the Exchanges...If, say you wanted to decorate the walls around your bed...you could find it at the Exchange” (16). Kathy is understanding how the terms might be new and guides readers throughout the novel with this particular writing style that adds comfort and clarity while humanizing the characters in the text.
I think Ishiguro incorporates the second person so often to drive home his idea that people in the real world accept their circumstances in many cases, not fighting their limitations, their mortality, and other circumstances in their lives. Kathy repeatedly says "I don't know how it was where you were," which not humanizes the clones as you said, but also nods at the idea that wherever we, the readers, were, we did not try to escape (13). Even though we are not clones, and we didn't actually live at Hailsham or anyplace like it, very few readers, especially young adult readers have actually fought any of their life circumstances. Some circumstances, like tragedy, are impossible to fight anyway. So "how it was where you were" was either incredibly difficult if not impossible to change (Ishiguro 13). Why didn't we run away when we disagreed with our parents, with our schools, with our laws, with our president? Why didn't many of us actually transfer to a Canadian school after the election like we threatened to? Ishiguro is telling us we accept the hands we are dealt - that doesn't mean we don't or can't play them well, but often we can't - and thus don't even try to - change them.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I have to give props to Haley. Didn't think of that, and it's a very good point that added to my understanding of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI see the narration style similar to how Megan stated, a useful technique that proved interesting, but also disagree on the impact of unreliability. It makes Kathy even more human because like us, we don't fully remember everything that happens exactly as it happens. Does it really matter if "(Her) own memory of it was that Tommy was always known for his temper" (21) or if Kathy's conversations with Ruth about sex really went down as they did in Chapter 11 to the overall message or the story? No! In our class today, character-driven stories and plot-driven stories, and Never Let Me Go falls squarely into the character-driven story. While most of the discussion has centered around the sci-fi aspects, this does some disservice to the intent of the author. He doesn't care on the science of cloning, or whether they had the will to revolt. Instead, they are means to a deeper study on the effects of certain death on persons.