Hailsham serves as a type of strict elementary school for Kathy, Tommy, and
Ruth, but the Cottages become a completely new experience to them. The Cottages
serve as a gateway between the strict life of Hailsham and the freedom of life
in the outside world. While at their new home, the trio learn much more about
their expectations, futures, and pasts.
To Ruth, Rodney and Chrissie are the paramount example
of what a relationship should be like as she attempts to shape her relationship
with Tommy in a way to fulfill others’ expectations. In Hailsham, there were very
few relationships on which one could model and decide what they want or need
socially. In the Cottages, Rodney and Chrissie are a long-standing couple that
incorporate into their relationship actions represented in the real world
through what they’ve seen on TV. This gives Ruth an idea of what relationships
look like outside of Hailsham, and she quickly attempts to mimic them to fit in
and experience what life is like.
Life becomes more real as the Kathy enters the Cottages,
as many of her acquaintances slowly leave to begin their careers as carers or
donors. No sadness follows these decisions, but rather a sense of emptiness that
can’t fully be explained. Their lives have an inevitable end that both comforts
and troubles the former students. Part of the reason I believe that the Hailsham
kids care relatively little about their impending deaths is that both their past
and future are decided for them with little chance of change. As Ruth states in
their trip to Norfolk, “We all know it. We’re modeled from trash. Junkies, prostitutes, winos, tramps. Convicts, maybe, just so
long as they aren’t psychos” (166). Though a sense of sadness comes from having
no choice in their past or future, it gives them solace in the fact that their
deaths have a meaning, and that in losing their life not many will regret their
loss.
Though the Cottages are a toned-down version of post-secondary
schooling, they serve better as a gateway to the real world as well as a means by
which the emotions of the donors can be kept under check until they complete
their donations. By being tasked with regular chores and a large paper, the
former students are kept relatively busy to ensure that their minds don’t wander
and worry about their impending death. Though the Cottages consist of only a
few run-down buildings on an old farm, they are the perfect location for seclusion
and protection for those who are soon to lose their lives for the sakes of
others.
I agree with you that the Cottages are a nod to the experiences a person has while in a post-secondary school. The students have significantly more freedom than they did at Hailsham, and it offers them a chance to experience a bit of the world before they have to start working as a carer. The Cottages serve as a holding place for kids too old to be in Hailsham but too young to start their donations. This limbo between the two major stages of the students' lives could easily become depressing if they did not have something to focus on. The amount of work that goes in to keeping the Cottages clean and functioning as well as they can gives the students something to occupy their minds. The students from Hailsham have the extra distraction of their essays to keep them occupied while at the Cottages.
ReplyDeleteI think that in addition to what you said, the students don't obsess over their impending death because they don't believe that they have the opportunity to fight it. Even though couples may seek the possibility of a deferral, they are accepting that they would only put off their fate for three years rather than a lifetime. Miss Emily says that she does not see the harm in the rumor of deferrals because "'[i]t's something for them to dream about, a little fantasy'" (258). They have grown up in a system where they have been told that their life is going to be this exact way and have never paused to question why it has to be. As you said, the students feel that their death has a purpose and that belief is enough to keep them from questioning why things are the way they are.
The Cottages remind me of college without the education, like a permanent youth hostel. There are 16 to mid-20 year olds who have meaningful and weighty conversations with each other to discover who they truly are, indulge in unscrupulous activities, and live in pretty poor conditions with heating that led to the cottages "often times, even in the summer, being quite chilly" (117). It did surprise me that there were less structured activities after the paper was completed, like job opportunities to earn cash, or education to prepare everyone for caring. It seems odd that they would let them sit around doing little (on a more nefarious note, sitting around could also lend itself to a greater likelihood of revolt, since there would be more time for plotting and planning). I found it fascinating that they mixed Hailsham students with others. If Hailsham students were treated differently for the first 16 years of their lives, why wouldn't it extend until donations? This mixing proves problematic for Ruth (as she is led on a chase for her possible that ends in disappointment) as well as Tommy and Kathy later on (as the rumors of deferment are planted, which leads the adventure to find Madame.
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