Never Let Me Go Section 2

On various occasions in section two, Kathy claims that they had been "told but not told".  I perceived this as they were told but not necessarily taught about what they were told meant.  Therefore, it was evident that they would not be able to fully understand or grasp the gravity of the situation.  Even at this point, they still do not really understand their clones/possibles.  They only ever whispered about the subject.  They knew their moving into the Cottages was imminent, yet they still are unknowledgeable of what life there will be like.  "When I think about it, there's a sense in which that picture of us on that first day, huddled together in front of the farmhouse, isn't so incongruous after all....Because somewhere underneath, a part of us stayed like that: fearful of the world around us, and--no matter how much we despised ourselves for it--unable quite to let each other go" (Ishiguro, 120).  This is what makes the point of view from which this story is told so interesting.  As well as the narrator and the point of view from which the story is told, Kathy is also one of the children.  However, her understanding of the world around her characterizes her as different.  Nothing ever comes as much of a surprise to her; therefore, it seems she has a sense that the other children lack.  She almost has this omniscient quality about her that sets her apart especially from Tommy and Ruth.  She never seems to be actively trying to please others like they do; she just exists in the world in which she has been placed.

Never Let Me Go Section 2

Kathy unveils two major mysteries in section two of the novel.  The first, revealed my Miss Lucy, was that these children are basically hosts for organ donation.  There are being raised secluded from real society in their own personal world that is especially preventative of physical harm which is displayed when a big deal is made out of a small gash on Tommy's arm.  Each section of their lives has a name with the conclusive one being "donor".  The second major revelation is that they are essentially clones. However, this is only a unveiling for the reader; it appears Kathy has always known this.  "Since each of us was coped at some point from a normal person, there must be, for each of us, somewhere out there, a model getting on with his or her life" (Ishiguro, 139).  Though the children claim they have "known" this all along, they fail to grasp the gravity of the entire situation.  For example, they neglect to acknowledge an important detail in the speech Miss Lucy is giving when she tells them that they are donors.  Miss Lucy says, "None of you will go to America, none of you will be film stars.  And none of you will be working in supermarkets as I heard some of you planning the other day.  Your lives are set out for you"  (Ishiguro, 81).  Apparently, they did not heed to the details in her speech.  While they are in the Cottages, they discuss the topic of "dream futures".  Therefore, there exists a great contrast between what they have been told will happen and what they believe/want to happen.  

Never Let Me Go Section 2

Section 2 of Never Let Me Go delves further into the development of the relationship between Kathy and Ruth.  Kathy acknowledges the multiple personalities of Ruth and characterizes the two different versions of her.  There exists one Ruth with whom Kathy trusts and enjoys spending time with.  The other, however, is self-centered.  This Ruth tires to stand out by trying her hardest to fit in with the older group.  In doing this, she often neglects her relationship with both Kathy and Tommy.  "There was one Ruth who was always trying to impress the veterans, who wouldn't hesitate to ignore me, Tommy, any of the others, if she thought we'd cramp her style" (Ishiguro, 129).  Ruth also displayed this type of attitude earlier causing Hannah to claim she knew Rut hand Tommy's relationship wouldn't last.  She, then, proceeds to refer to Kathy as Ruth's "natural successor", further characterizing Ruth as the leader. however, there appears to be a sense of foreshadowing here in regards to an imminent relationship between Kathy and Tommy.  Kathy has never respected the way Ruth treats Tommy.  Once they move into the Cottages, the reader even sees Ruth use Tommy as a means of fitting in with her strange way of nudging his elbow strengthening the argument that she is person who desperately wants to fit in with a crowd more mature than she.

Never Let Me Go Section 2

The reader receives the history of Kathy and her friends in a series of flashbacks and anecdotes.  She is older and proclaims herself to be wiser now.  She begins to make connections that she was incapable of making at Hailsham and in the Cottages.  One of the more interesting aspects of the novel is how vividly these memories come back to her and how foreboding of the future they can sometimes be.  Especially in regards to Tommy, Kathy's memory is infallible.  She even often remembers exactly what he was wearing.  The recollections of her conversations with Ruth are also extremely detailed.  Both of these occurrences indicate the importance of these two character as Kathy matures.

Due to the fact that the story is told from the point of view of Kathy's future self, foreshadowing is prevalent.  In general, after every anecdotal story Kathy recounts, she references something that will happen in the future.  When she is discussing the Exchanges and Patricia C.'s calendar, she says, "It's one of the things I lost when I left the Cottages, when my mind was elsewhere and I wasn't being so careful what I took with me--but I'll come to all that in its place"  (Ishiguro, 94).  Such subtle indications keep the reader interested as many of the references tend to be grim and ominous.

"Acquainted with the Night"-Robert Frost

In "Acquainted with the Night", Robert Frost sets an extremely depressing tone.  The setting of the poem is the nighttime, and the diction makes the imagery all the more discouraging.  There is an overwhelming sense of isolation.  The speaker never interacts in any dialogue and even avoids eye contact with others.  

"I have passed by the watchman on his beat

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain." (Frost, 976)

To the speaker, there exists no division between right and wrong.  Or, at the very least, he fails to perceive it.  In his world, humanity as approached a glass ceiling and can progress no further.  Therefore, they fall into a cycle.  Some men do horrible things, while other sit back and watch.  They are the silent observers of destruction.  The speaker claims he has been both.  In this moral -lacking world, the speaker can express only loneliness and despair, because that is all that exists.  Due to the cyclical nature the poem is structured in, the speaker appears to be saying that is how it will always exist as well.    

"Sorting Laundry"-Elisavietta Ritche

When I read this poem, I initially thought it was a plea.  The first stanzas served as reminders of the comfort and enjoyment found in the pairing's relationship.  In lines 39 and 40, when she discusses the "broken necklace of good gold you brought from Kuwait" (Ritche,842)  I saw it as a declarations of how good the man was to her, and she was undeserving of it.  Then, I perceived "the strangely tailored shirt left by a former lover..." (Ritche, 842) as her admission to cheating on him.  The following three stanzas, consequently, served as her begging for him to stay with her.  I assumed when her significant other went to Kuwait she cheated on him with another.  One of the points that supported this ideology is found when the speaker is describing the contents of her laundry.  Many of the articles are ruined or serve no purpose ("uncouple socks"), yet she refuses to rid of them.  Similarly, her relationship was now broken and possibly beyond repair leading her confess how terrible her life would be without her lover.  However, in this analysis, I missed one supremely important word as the speaker describes the shirt.

"left by a former lover..."

Here, the word former served as an allusion to a relationship far in the past.  She is showing how perfectly imperfect her life has been with this man and how she does not know how she would live without him.

"I taste a liquor never brewed"-Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson employs a strong sense of natural imagery throughout this poem.  She discusses the clouds, the air, the dew, the sky, the bees, the butterflies, the snow, and the sun.  As the poem progresses, I noticed a subtle change in the seasons.  At first when the speaker refers to the butterflies and bees and the halting of their drinking/nectar intake, I thought she was referring to the fact that the season were switching and the plants off of which they survive would soon die.  With this, I became confused as to whether the speaker was professing her love for nature throughout the entirety of the year or just during summer months when nature seems to be in full bloom.  The argument support that the speaker only appreciates nature during the summer is found when the speaker says,

"Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats." (Dickinson, 797)

 However, the argument supporting the speaker's love of nature at all times is backed by the phrase,--

"I shall but drink the more!" (Dickinson, 797)

--even though the seasons are changing.  Despite these arguments, Dickinson makes the speaker's attitude toward nature crystal clear.