1. Never Let Me Go
Chapters 21, 22 & 23

2. What was
Hailsham?

3. ‘Marie-Claude is correct,’ Miss Emily said
‘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?

4. Why does the rumour of deferral 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’?
Chapter 22 Questions

5. 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?
What are your thoughts and feelings about society, as it exists in the novel?

6. Madame and Miss Emily seem to feel that the students from Hailsham should be thankful for the opportunities ‘we were able to secure for you’ (p256). Do you feel the students should be grateful for the lives they’ve been given?

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

8. Humanity
What makes a normal ‘ordinary’ human?

9. Miss Emily describes the students as ‘medical supplies’
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?
Chapter 22 Questions

10. ‘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?’

11. ‘Your life must now run the course that’s been set for it
‘Your life must now run the course that’s been set for it.’ - Miss Emily (p 261)
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

12. ‘…you were simply pawns in a game… lucky pawns’ - Miss Emily (p 261)
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

13. ‘It might be just some trend that came and went, but for us, it’s our life.’ - Kathy (p 261)
To what extent do you feel sympathy for donors?

14. ‘You poor creatures…’
How does Ishiguro effectively build a feeling of sympathy in the reader in this chapter?

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

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

17. The relationship between Tommy and Kathy changes after their visit to Madame. Why might this be the case, and what does it suggest about their relationship?

18. …even if you’ve technically completed, you’re still conscious in some sort of way; how then you find there are more donations, plenty of them, on the other side of that line; how there are no recovery centres, no carers, no friends; there’s nothing to do except watch you remaining donations until they switch you off.
What do we learn about donations in this chapter, that we perhaps didn’t know before?

19. Chapter 23 Questions
What is the role of the carer? Tommy doesn’t find them ‘that important’, whereas Kathy feels they ‘make a big difference’ (p276). Which do you agree with, and why?

20. Kathy says that she feels no anger towards Ruth for keeping Tommy and herself apart. What are your thoughts about this?

21. Re-read the passage on page 277, starting with ‘I suppose you’re right…’ and ending with ‘…about it that morning’. What are your thoughts and feelings regarding the metaphor Tommy makes here?

22. Re-read the passage on page 279, starting with ‘Tommy and I…’ and ending with ‘…had gone from the mirror’. How does Ishiguro build mood and atmosphere in these lines? What impressions do you get of the relationship between Tommy and Kathy?

23. Re-read the passage on page 280, starting with ‘I was talking to…’ and going to the end of the novel. How does Ishiguro build mood and atmosphere in these lines?

24. I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, to drive off to wherever it was I was supposed to be.
Where is Kathy ‘supposed’ to be? What is her role in the world? What is OUR role in the world? Or anyone’s for that matter?