Never Let Me Go Context and Genre PDF

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These notes will look into the context of Never Let Me Go regarding cloning and covering the genre of the novel....

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Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro  Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954 and came to Britain in 1960.  He has won several literary awards for his novels and is considered one of the greatest writers working today. Never Let Me Go Sessons Session 1 1. Context – the current science of cloning. 2. Genre. Session 2 3. Ethics. 4. Psychoanalysis. Session 3 5. Ideology – shaping behaviour. 6. Othering. Context – The Current Science of Cloning DOLLY THE SHEEP  Dolly was born on 5th July 1996. She was the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, rather than embryonic.  Mammals reproduce sexually – a process that always involves two parent animals that always involves two parent animals; one male; the other female.  Cloning is the production of a new, genetically identical, individual from a single parent animal.  In 2003, Dolly died from a progressive lung disease at 6.5 years; this type of sheep has a life expectancy of 11-12 years.  However, in 2016 long term research has not found the same issue with other cloned sheep.  Since the breakthrough with Dolly, further cattle, sheep and other mammals have been successfully cloned from somatic

cells. These included: cat, deer, dog, horse, mule, ox, rabbit and rat. How are the characters of Never Let Me Go equated with such animal clones? Consider the following aspects of the narrative:  The cottages.  The way they are referred to by Miss Emily when they meet her as adults.  Why Hailsham is different to the other government “homes”. Kathy on Tommy’s Drawings:  ‘I was becoming increasingly drawn to their fantastical creatures in front of me, for all their busy, metallic features, there was something sweet, even vulnerable about them’ (p. 185). Reprogramming DNA  Scientists replaced the nucleus of the egg cell with the nucleus from the parent cell – in Dolly’s case, an udder cell.  The egg cell reprogrammed the donated DNA contained within its new nucleus, and Dolly was the result. The resulting embryo was implanted into the womb of a third, surrogate sheep. Reprogramming DNA – cloning human? From a technical perspective, cloning humans and other primates is more difficult than in other mammals.  One reason is that two proteins essential to cell division, known as spindle proteins, are located very close to the chromosomes in primate eggs.  Consequently, removal of the egg’s nucleus to make room for the donor nucleus also removes the spindle proteins, interfering with cell division.

 In other mammals, such as cats, rabbits and mice, the two spindle proteins are spread throughout the egg. So, removal of the egg’s nucleus does not result in loss of spindle protein.  In addition, some dyes and the ultraviolet light used to remove the egg’s nucleus can damage the primate cell and prevent it from growing. Designer Babies  The term “designer babies” refers to the genetic manipulation of embryos to be given birth by humans.  Such manipulations are intended to change certain features such as eye or hair colour, height, and other aspects of the child’s physical body.  In the UK the only such genetic manipulation that is allowed on an embryo is a removal of cells that would result in inherited diseases such as hemophilia. Genre What genre would you place the novel within?  ‘Many critics puzzled over the novel’s genre, registering an affinity to science fiction.’  ‘Never Let Me Go does, as is common in science fiction, make use of an invented, specialist vocabulary that references its own scienticity.’ Griffin, G. (2009) ‘Science and the cultural imaginary: the case of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go’, Textual Practice 23 (4), p. 645, 649.’  Science-fiction (sci-fi) – Narratives that construct worlds based around fantastical technology or environments.  HARD SCI-FI – Detailed and deliberate in its detailing of fictional technologies and fantasy worlds.

 SOFT SCI-FI – Fictional technology provides the basis for the world described, but the focus is on the persons that exist within it. Could Never Let Me Go simply be a “failed” science-fiction? Consider where flaws in the construction of the world of Ishiguro’s novel may arise:  The suggested history of cloning in the UK. (p. 256, 258 – 259).  The nature of the broader United Kingdom in which the clones exist.  The broader world that is implied through their travels in the UK. Therapeutic Cloning i.e. Stem Cell Research  Within the first 14 days of a cell’s existence its function is not yet determined.  Stem cell research involves manipulating these cells so that their function can be decided by the scientists.  This method is used for things like skin graphs and the hope is to create organs for use in transplants.  ‘Even as science moves towards the engineering of human tissue, thus beginning to render obsolete the need to rely on complete organs for transplantation, Ishiguro sets out in the opposite direction, imagining the cloning of people. Whitehead, A. (2011) ‘Writing with care: Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go’, Contemporary Literature 52 (1), p. 60. What genre would you place the novel within?  SPECULATIVE FICTION (SF) – Narratives that construct alternate worlds that are somewhat fantastical yet closely based on our own.

 This term has gained more currency in recent years as a way for critics to differentiate “literary” fiction from “genre” fiction.  Examples of writers who are said to create speculative fiction are J.G. Ballard, Margaret Atwood, and Anthony Burgess. Why might Never Let Me Go be better understood as speculative fiction?  The Madame explaining why she cried at the sight of Kathy dancing to her song: ‘I saw a new world coming rapidly. More scientific, efficient, yes. More cures for old sicknesses. Very good. But a harsh, cruel world. And I saw a little girl, her eyes tightly closed, holding to her breast the old kind world, one that she knew in her heart could not remain, and she was holding it and pleading, never to let it go’. (p. 267).  Here a humanist narrative emerges from the critique of technology. A Humanist Narrative A reflection on the issue of Black Market organs?  The value of organ donations after one’s relatives’ demise has not yet filtered into broad public consciousness; patients wait a long time for legal organ donations and often die in the interim; some of them opt for buying organs illegally and often inhumanly; others do not ask questions about the origin of the organs that they buy, in expensively, in excellent hospitals in China.’ Toker, L. and Chertoff, D. (2008) ‘Reader response and the recycling of topoi in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go’, partial answers 6 (1) pp. 177. A Satire On Capitalism

A Satire on the structuring of post-war society in regards to the service economy? Consider:  The “dream futures” of the clones (p. 141).  The need to “kee[p] yourselves very healthy inside.” (p. 69).  Kathy’s attitude as a carer. (p. 3).  The sense of fulfilment such a cycle of life is supposed to provide. (p. 256).  The selfishness of society in regards to the clones. (p. 258). How might Pierre Macherey’s thoughts on the “unconscious” of a literary work be relevant here? A summary of Macherey’s Theory of Literary Production (1966) extract in Easthope and McGowan:  A text necessarily has a silence, an unsaid, a cannot saya silence, an unsaid, a cannot say. This is because the conventions of a text / narrative constrain the ideological impulses of the author. The unconscious of the work is the historical – social forces that underpin its writing and are not explicit in the text. Ishiguro briefly alludes to issues that arose in the real immediate aftermath of World War II.    

Prisoner of War (PoW) camps. (p. 77). Jazz and the United States’ occupation of Japan. (p. 69). The Morningdale Scandal; eugenics (p. 259). The lack of ethical concern regarding the rapid breakthrough in science that followed the war. (p. 257).

 “Operation Paperclip” was conducted by the Allied forces following the destruction of Hitler’s Nazi regime.

 This operation involved the selecting of the best German scientists for use in their domestic technology programmes, in an attempt to beat the Russians in technology advancement.  The emergence of both the United States and Russia as “super powers” following WWII is partly down to this strategy. The “space race” was certainly enacted on the basis of former Nazi scientists now working for the two super powers.  Writing changed across time due to technology, war, social events etc.  9/11 was seen as the death of postmodernism.  Notion of relativism has gone out of the window.  Novels are self-referential and does not deal with reality.  Postmodernism is about macro – does not look at humanity.  Death of postmodernism is shift from the ironic to humanity. Micro to the macro.  Barthes – text for pleasure / bliss. Never Let Me Go  Hailsham is like a free range farm (the cottages used to be a farm).  Miss Emily and Madame – referred to Kathy and Tommy as ‘poor creatures’.  Tommy may have known on a subconscious level – drawings reveal that by creatures which show vulnerability.  Morningdale scandal – wants to make the clones smarter.  It is difficult to place this novel in a set genre.  It could be considered a failed sci-fi because its not a world created on cloning, it exists with cloning.  Fields mentioned a lot but animals are not cloned because they are not needed anymore.  Never Let Me Go imagines the cloning of people.

 Can be considered as speculative fiction. Transformation – from one age to another. It is much more about humanism and what it does to us. Could be a text about the black market organ donations. Post-war – welfare state created service economy – need to be educated to a certain extent for a job.  Locked in to Capitalist society – Miss Emily states you’ve had a good life, educated and cultured – not good enough.  Althusser – locked into an ideology. RSA.

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 ‘It’s just as well the fences at Hailsham aren’t electrified’ (p. 77) Prisoner of War.  Cold war between Russia and the US.  American culture became Japanese culture.  Already done eugenics as they cannot reproduce.  Two ethical levels – harvesting them for that purpose and how to treat them....