‘Marie-Claude is correct,’ Miss Emily said. ‘I’m the one to whom you should be speaking. Marie-Claude worked hard for our project. And the way it all ended has left her feeling somewhat disillusioned. As for myself, whatever the disappointments, I don’t feel so badly about it. I think what we achieved merits some respect. Look at the two of you. You’ve turned out well. I’m sure you have much you could tell me to make me proud…’ To what extent does this speech serve to dehumanise/’other’ Kathy and Tommy? How does it reflect the ignorance of those running Hailsham?

* Why does the rumor of deferrals continue to be ‘created from scratch over and over’? * Miss Emily says it was something for ‘them to dream about, a little fantasy. What harm is there?’ To what extent do you agree/disagree with this stance? * ‘Marie-Claude doesn’t care much for their regulations these days, and I must say, neither do I’. Who are ‘they’?

* What does Miss Emily tell us about how society views/regards the carer/donor process? * What does Miss Emily tell us about the conditions faced by the majority of donors?

* Madame and Miss Emily feel that the students from Hailsham should be thankful for the opportunities ‘we were able to secure for you’ (p261). Do you feel the students should be grateful for the lives they’ve been given?

* Was it better to ‘shelter’ and ‘fool’ the students about their future, as they did at Hailsham?

* What makes a normal ‘ordinary’ human?

* Miss Emily describes the students as ‘medical supplies’. Is it right to treat clones in an inhuman fashion? * If you lived in this world, would you have supported Miss Emily’s movement?

‘There were speeches, large funds pledged. “There, look!” we could say. “Look at this art! How dare you claim these children are anything less than fully human?” ‘For a long time people believed that these organs appeared from nowhere, or at most they were grown in some kind of vacuum. Yes, there were arguments. But by the time people became concerned about…about students, by the time they came to consider just how you were reared, whether you should be brought into existence at all, well by then it was too late. There was no way to reverse the process. How can you ask a world that has come to regard cancer as curable, how can you ask such a world to put away that cure, to go back to the dark days?’

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

To what extent do you feel sympathy for donors?

How does Ishiguro effectively build a feeling of sympathy in the reader in this chapter?

* How do Kathy and Tommy react to all that they’ve heard? * What does this tell us about them?

* Create a fundraising poster for the Hailsham movement, based on information learned in chapter 22.