"Discuss and analyze the willful ignorance of the clones. Why would they not have been as concerned for their lives? Analyze their free will and reasons for remaining ignorant. .
Response.
In the novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ishiguro successfully creates a world so accustomed to the benefits of cloning humans to avoid death that the society ignores the flip side of the coin; the death of innocent people. Through the eyes of this world he raises very interesting ethical and moral questions about the idea of cloning humans for harvesting. Yet, the most interesting question raised after observing this world is the reason for the selflessness of the human clones raised at Hailsham. The purpose of a clone is to donate their organs until they "complete " their service and die. Yet, never is the urgency of self-preservation sensed within the narrator Kathy. She appears to live her entire life in a state of ignorance and meaningless distractions such as love affairs and arguments with other clones. As a result, she hardly mentions her thoughts about donating her organs. It appears that in the novel, the clones remain in a state of ignorance because of the strong influences of the school and the headmaster Emily, which causes them to have little concern for their lives and restricts their free will. .
"Whatever else, we at least saw to it that all of you in our care, you grew up in wonderful surroundings. And we saw to it too, after you left us, you were kept away from the worst of those horrors. We were able to do that much for you at least"(Ishiguro 232). The school Hailsham is meant to be a safe haven for clones where they can develop and mature in a safe and humane environment. While the school and Mrs. Emily provide solace to clones in the form of education, it also isolates them from the outside world. In this sense, Hailsham keeps its students blissfully ignorant. Yet, the isolation of the school and its students is not the main reason for the clones' selflessness but a mere catalyst.
