‘Never Let Me Go’ is a dystopian novel about clones whose sole purpose is to be alive and donate their organs to the humans they were cloned from. The story follows the lives of three students from Hailsham, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy. they live the first half of their lives in a sheltered environment- Hailsham. Until Miss Lucy comes in, the children are not told about their identity or purpose in life. Through a series of lies and deceptions or ignorance, they are made to believe that they are special. They were lied to in order to protect them. Later on in their lives, the children are moved to cottages outside of Hailsham and have to live in the normal world where for the first time they encounter real life and come to terms with it. Never Let me Go raises important questions about lying and deceiving to protect children. Are the guardians of Hailsham deceiving their children or protecting them from their future? Does this tactic help?
The kids of Hailsham live in an idyllic world where they learn and play and are asked to stay creative for most of their time. They are sheltered and not told about the outside world or their future. They are just taught to be creative and stay healthy. Although the children are told about donations, it's always in bits and pieces so that they never really understand the significance of it. This changes with the arrival of Miss Lucy who tells them the truth. She says, "The problem, as I see it, is that you've been told and not told. You've been told, but none of you really understand, and I dare say, some people are quite happy to leave it that way. But I'm not. If you're to have decent lives, you have to know who you are and what lies ahead of you, every one of you (Ishiguro Ch 7, Par 20). What she means is that the children have not been told what future lays ahead and that they should not be sheltered against the realities of life. She does not believe in deceiving the children.
“Children have extraordinary antennae for the things no one will explain (Rosoff, 2013).” Although the children live sheltered lives, Miss Lucy’s news does not come as a surprise. As kathy says even though they did not know exactly what lay ahead, she knew it was coming on some level. Parents try to protect their children from the harsh realities of life by lying to them about sensitive topics like sex, divorce or a major illness. But this does much harm to them as they either try to find out on their own or suffer in silence when they know and the adults are unwilling to talk to them. In the novel too, the lack of any reliable information leads to the spread of gossip about deferrals, where some of the Hailsham alumni actually believe that they can prolong their lives if they are truly in love even when it isn't true. A study conducted by the University of California has found out that Children who are lied to by their parents are most likely to lie more ( O'Callaghan, 2014). Parents lie to their children for various reasons. It could be selfish or it could be done to shelter them as much as they can. But parents are also the first role models for their kids and deception at an early stage is bound to make an impression on young minds.
The children of Hailsham were eventually going to know about their fate. Telling them the truth from the beginning would have probably led to them following a different trajectory in their lives. The shelter that the guardians provided through Hailsham was a farce, similar to many webs of lies that parents weave around to protect their children. They either do not want the children to know as it would be difficult to explain or they do not want their kids to suffer. However it raises serious ethical questions. If the truth is to be known eventually, it is always better to let them know about it and prepare them than let them experience the shock.
Works Cited
Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. London: Faber and Faber. 2005.
O’Callaghan, Jonathan. “Don't lie to your kids! Children are more likely to be dishonest if they discover their parents don't tell the truth.” Dailymail. 18 June 2014. Web. 8 Mar 2016.
Rosoff, Meg. “You can't protect children by lying to them – the truth will hurt less.” The Guardian. 21 Sep 2013. Web. 8 Mar 2016.
