Categories
Glossary

Utopian

 

Utopian

In Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro, the structured confining atmosphere is conveyed fairly nicely. The donors have one purpose which is to harvest their organs and eventually complete, to pass on. They are seen as a utility on behalf of other people’s survival. This word allegory, can be connected to the word utopian in this context. Never Let Me Go is an allegory for a utopian society. Utopia means modeled on or aiming for a state in which everything is perfect; idealistic. In a utopian society, no objections are made, no questions are asked. There is a sense of conformity with no struggle. The donors just do what they are told. In this society, the leaders have positions to make important decisions which are enforced and followed. In a utopian society, everything is followed which creates a state of perfection. The argument in this scenario wins the good of the many outweigh the good of the few and so for this a subculture of human livestock is created. It implies that one person is more valuable than another. In a broader sense the donors are a mirror to the plight of all domesticated animals, whose entire existence is dependent on their use by others. Speciesism arguably originated in animal domestication and thus is infinitely more entrenched in our culture. In Never Let Me Go, there is a certain kind of power which shows that the donors have nothing that can save them- not love, art, or beauty; Resistance is futile. And that is why there is no fighting, because they are outnumbered. Ishiguro’s novels often end without any sense of resolution.

Works Cited

“Utopian.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam webster.com/dictionary/utopian.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Glossary

Archetype

An archetype is the perfect example or model of something. It would be something that serves as a model or example for future copies of that thing.  An example of an archetype used in our unit is from Oryx and Crake. Although archetype is sort of the ideal that is copied, in Oryx and Crake, Crake attempted to create the archetype of what he thought humans ought to be. By creating what he felt was the perfect human he was attempting to create the human archetype. He created them in as many ways having an ideal as much as possible. For example, he felt ideally, that people should not be racist or even notice differences of color between each other. In order to fit that into his archetype, he makes the Crakers different colors and programs them to not notice the color differences amongst themselves. He could have easily made them all the same color and still made them not care for color. Or he could have made them all different colors and notice each other differences but still programmed to not care. Either or these options would have the same effect. But for Crake’s ideals, humans come in different colors and there isn’t one color that ought to be the archetype, therefore the Crakers should have different colors. Another example is how they are all programmed to die at age 30. In order for the Crakers to always be the archetype, he cannot have elderly ones, because then they would not be ideal as they age. Rather they are always ideal and then they die. The last example is how they all have green eyes. We learn in the book that Crake’s personal preference of what he felt was the ideal eye color was green. He found it to be the most appealing eye color, therefore his archetype people should all express this ideal look. Although archetype usually refers to something that serves as a “classic” example that is then copied, in Oryx and Crake an archetype is being created backward in which the ideal is taken from bits and pieces from everyone and then put together to create an archetype.

 

“Archetype – Dictionary Definition.” Vocabulary.com, www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/archetype.

 

“Archetypes Revealed in Oryx & Crake – by Margaret Atwood.” Brooke’s Blog Diary, 26 Apr. 2017, fultonblogger.wordpress.com/2017/04/26/archetypes-revealed-in-oryx-crake-by-margaret-atwood/.

Categories
Glossary

Uncanny Valley

The “Uncanny Valley” is a term coined in 1970 by Masahiro Mori that describes our revolting reaction to something that seems very human but is not exactly. His research suggests that the more human something seems the more our affinity goes up for that thing until it seems a little too human. When something becomes too human, our affinity for it drops suddenly and we are disturbed by it.

We can see this effect happening in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. In the book, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature that looks very human. He uses real human parts to make him. But when he becomes animated Frankenstein is horrified. It is something that looks very realistically human, but is not exactly. This is an exact example of the effect of the uncanny valley.

 

“Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then; but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived.”

Frankenstein is describing the very concept of the uncanny valley in that passage. He said it was ugly when he was putting him together. Obviously, he still looks the same when animated, he is just moving around and seeming alive now. But it is when something that seems human becomes a little too human, in this case through animation, that it when the uncanny valley effect occurs.

 

Mori, Masahiro. “The Uncanny Valley: The Original Essay by Masahiro Mori.” IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News, IEEE Spectrum, 12 June 2012, spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/the-uncanny-valley.

 

Schwarz, Rob. “10 Creepy Examples of the Uncanny Valley.” Stranger Dimensions, Stranger Dimensions, 14 Sept. 2017, www.strangerdimensions.com/2013/11/25/10-creepy-examples-uncanny-valley/.

 

 

 

 

Categories
In-class writing Notes

Notes 5/1

  • repetition of words “donor” and “carer” throughout, but not defined
    • indicates that it’s normal to her
      • normalization = dehuminization
      • ethics of normalization
    • audience = people who consider it normal too
      • creates distance/detachment for “real” readers
  • set in late 1990s, England
    • near past
    • what are the political things happening in England in the 1990s, 2005?
    • could it relate to pro-choice/pro-life debate? — use value of life
    • movie came out the same year as The Island starring Ewan MacGregor and Scarlett Johansson — coincidence
    • Dolly the Sheep 1996-2003
      • demonstrated the feasibility of cloning (even though it was born to a mother)
      • comparison to now — Barbara Streisand’s cloned dog
      • have our attitudes toward cloning changed significantly since 2005? maybe it’s just new — it will be normal someday. next generation might also think robots that look like people are normal
  • clones raise the question of what is a person?
  • we see cloning etc. as the emergent future
    • there’s no markers of the 1990s in the novel (except the Walkman) — feels out of time even though the time period is so specific — which makes it seem like it should be a commentary on current events — but it could also be a parallel present
  • in order for this to be normal, we must either be (a) ignorant, or (b) have defined “human” or “personhood” — people doing what they’re told, following the group, assuming that what we’re doing is right — abandoning morals for utility — next step is there’s no purpose for old people etc.
    • humanity is undefined
  • issues of responsibility — people would be careless with their own bodies if they can be replaced — lack of responsibility for the self
    • but there are organ donors now
  • are the clones human? they have thoughts and feelings, like the Creature in Frankenstein — part of purpose of life is survival, and they don’t have that — why don’t they fight to survive (the clones) the way, for example, Frankenstein does?
    • if you’re making an organ in a lab it’s just an object
    • we would as a group prefer a fresh (grown) organ to a second-hand organ
    • we’re also making lab-grown meat now
      • someday people will look back and wonder how we could eat meat
      • but wouldn’t other “natural” processes be different as well? — if people start living longer, then will humanity exist any longer — we would run out of resources
    • at the moment of donation body parts become objects
    • growing clones for use — certain animals are bred just for research — you can order them with particular ages etc. — sometimes you have to raise them — but often these are fruit flies — de-personification? negotiating line between anthropormoization and dehumanization
  • who would benefit from these donors?
  • why are they sending clones to school if they’re going to be killed?
    • appeasing a guilty conscience?
    • better for the organs?
      • literate kidneys
    • big emphasis on creativity and art
      • artwork represents inner self and what they’re feeling
        • control — we can predict the clone revolution if we know what they think
        • experiment- do they think like “normal” humans?
        • can interpret art, symbolism, judging the moods of the clones?
  • sad that they don’t fight back — but it’s normal, it goes without question
Categories
Glossary

Anthropocene

Anthropocene is a proposed name for the current geological epoch, which describes the impact that humankind has had on the planet. “Anthropocene”, derived from the Greek words anthropo for “man” and cene for “new”, translates to “recent age of man”. The name of our current geological epoch, the Holocene, is being criticized by a growing number of scientists as being outdated and inadequately describes the impact humans have had on the environment, such as the pollution of oceans and of the atmosphere, the mass extinction of plant and animal species and other lasting effects (Stromberg 2013).

Human effects on the environment are widespread. Between Agriculture, the damming of rivers and mining, humans are stripping away sediment at 10 times the natural rate of erosion. The burning of fossil fuels has acidified the oceans because of increased levels of CO2 and the nutrients from fertilizers are creating “dead-zones” along coastlines (Monsastersky 2015). Earth’s increasing population, the industrialization of agricultural processes and globalization have only made things worse. Between cultivation and raising livestock, It is estimated that humans have converted nearly two-fifths of the Earth’s landmass for agriculture (Rafferty 2009).

Scientists disagree about the timeline for this new era. While some believe the era should begin with the invention of agriculture, most say it should begin after the industrial revolution. Since the determination of these eras are decided by examining geological markers in the Earth’s rock strata, geologists believe that if there is going to be a new era, it would start with the nuclear age. Nuclear testing, along with plastics, concrete, artificial fertilizers and leaded petroleum have all left the necessary evidence in the Earth’s sediment (Monastersky 2015).

In the novel Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood warns of a catastrophic future, destroyed by unchecked corporate greed and technology run amok.  She explores the selfish attitude that humans have about manipulating nature to sustain their lifestyles.  In Atwood’s world, the commodification of nature led to the destruction of their cloud forests, genetic manipulation of animals would eventually introduce new predators to the ecology, and the desire for humans to remain youthful led to massive amounts of inequality.  By using this apocalyptical imagery in her portrayal of a world in which parallels to our own can be seen, she makes an appeal for us to discard “fake joy” and “to prevent technology from robbing the natural world and civilization” (Bhalla 2014).

Works cited:

  1. Bhalla, Ambika, Bhangu, J.P.K. and Singh, Manmohan. “Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake: An Ecocritical Approach” International Journal of Research, November 2014, edupediapublications.org
  2. Monastersky, Richard. “Anthropocene: The Human Age” Nature, Nature, 14 March 2015, http://www.nature.com/news/anthropocene-the-human-age-1.17085?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20150312
  3. Rafferty, John P. “Anthropocene Epoch” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 February 2009, https://www.britannica.com/science/Anthropocene-Epoch
  4. Stromberg, Joseph. “What Is The Anthropocene And Are We In It?” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian.com, January 2013, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-is-the-anthropocene-and-are-we-in-it-164801414/
Categories
Glossary

Ecocriticism

 

“Ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment”(Glotfelty 1996).   At its most basic level, ecocriticism is the intersection of literature, culture and the environment.  It asks us to examine ourselves and consider the ways in which we interact with the world around us (Brizee 2015).  Ecocriticism examines literature through an ecological lens the same way contemporary feminists such as Anita Sarkeesian examine video games and movies through a feminist lens. Just as Sarkeesian examines how women are portrayed in various forms of pop culture, the focus for ecocritics “is the way that wilderness is represented in literature and popular culture” (Brizee 2015). 

Due to the emerging environmental crisis, Ecocriticism gained popularity in the 80s and 90s.  Scholars believed it was the duty of the humanities and the natural sciences to raise awareness for this cause in order to invent solutions (Brizee 2015).  Beginning as the study of literature about nature, it focused on the works of authors such as Henry David Thoreau, who wrote about the wilderness and the beauty of nature. It was more of a celebration of nature than the more activist approach to ecocriticism we see today. The current wave of ecocriticism is less concerned with the sublimity of nature, and more interested in “breaking down of some of the long-standing distinctions between the human and the non-human”(Brizee 2015). This wave also questions the idea that humans live separate from nature and includes urban areas as part of nature. The more activist approach also examines issues of race, class, gender and ecojustice, which concerns the plight of the poor and the other usual victims of pollution. (Brizee 2015).

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood embodies this new approach in every way. Set in a world decimated by climate change, the dystopian novel also explores issues such as sexploitation, corporate greed and the detrimental way we use nature as an everlasting resource for human consumption. It illustrates the disharmonious relationship between humans and nature and warns of the dangers of unhindered technology and aspiration (Bhalla 2014). Atwood also examines ecojustice issues such as the societal inequalities that disproportionately expose the poor and unprivileged to pollution and disease.

Works cited

  1. Bhalla, Ambika, Bhangu, J.P.K. and Singh, Manmohan. “Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake: An Ecocritical Approach” International Journal of Research, November 2014, edupediapublications.org
  2. Brizee, Allen et al. “Ecocriticism (1960-present)” Purdue Online Writing Lab, Purdue Online Writing Lab, 2015,  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/13/
  3. Glotfelty, Cheryll and Fromm, Harold. “The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology”, 1996
Categories
Blog Assignments

The Power of Abjection

Image result for death

Julia Kristeva’s essay is on the concept of abjection. Abjection means where a person or society casts off an entity or set of entities that it wishes to place outside of the self. The individual or society places it “beyond the scope of the possible the tolerable the thinkable (1). the abject has “only one quality of the object that of being opposed to I.” There are various types of abjection. Kristeva says “food loathing is perhaps the most elementary and most archaic form of abjection.” The ego of the individual expels things which are disgusting away from the self.

We are all born unable to distinguish between ourselves and the outside world. We look at ourselves as being one with our mothers. To establish the self, we need to have some way of distinguishing ourselves from our mother. We form our ego by a series of abjections from things in the world. One of the things we need to expel from ourselves is the idea of death. Corpses are thrust aside by the psyche as something repulsive. When you see something dead, you don’t just understand it as a rational thing, but rather it is something you drive out of your psyche. The confrontation with the corpse is a form of abjection. The corpse represents more than just a rational idea of death. It is something that is thrust out of the psyche.

Kristeva holds that when a person expels something from their consciousness, they put in a realm beyond meaning. Abjection functions in a realm where meaning collapses. It is not just that a person doesn’t think about the abject object. They put it into a realm that is beyond symbolic meaning. There are certain concepts in language that are based on subject and object. In abjection, the distinction between subject and object is lost.

In “Never Let Me Go”, Ishiguro paints a picture of a society that creates clones solely for the purpose of using their body parts to fix people as they get older. These clones are called donors because their sole purpose is the harvesting of their body parts. These clones are looked at as being without souls. As the novel says, “and none of you will be working in supermarkets as I heard you planning the other day. Your lives are set out for you. You’ll become adults, then before you’re old, before you are even middle aged, you will start to donate your vital organs (81). That’s what each of you was created to do.” The clones are looked at as being subhuman. They are the Other. This is a form of abjection for the society at large because the clones have no other purpose than to become donors for the “regular people.”

The clones go to a special school called Hailsham. They are separated from the rest of society. There is a parallel between the clones and how outcast people are looked at in society today. Unfortunate people are not looked at just as people who are less fortunate than the people in regular society. They are looked at as being subhuman. This is in line with Kristeva’s idea that abjection is not just a rational evaluation. It is a type of expelling something from the human ego which is the sense of self.

Both Frankenstein and “Never Let Me Go” have themes of abjection. In Frankenstein, the monster is an outcast because of his grotesque physique. In Never Let Me Go, although the clones are not ostracized because of their physical appearance, they are still considered outcasts because of their position in society. They are only considered to be useful for harvesting their organs. They are not considered to have a soul. Although both were created by man to mimic human beings, they were treated with such animosity and repulsion.

However, Hailsham is not just a storehouse to store clones in. It is a special program that tries to enrich the lives of the clones. The program there tries to locate the humanity in the clones. There is an effort to inspire creativity in the clones. For example, the clones produce art work that is later sold at exhibitions. The art work is inspected to try to see if the clones love some particular person. This was important because the experience of love is a sign of their humanity.

The question is if the society doesn’t value the clones as humans, why does it try to find humanity in the clones? It seems that Ishiguro was trying to portray the ambivalent feelings that the society had about the clones. On the one hand, if society denies the humanity of the clones, then it denies its own humanity. On the other hand, society needs to deny the reality of death and continue to use the clones for body parts. This creates a conflict for the human ego. In psychology, there is a concept called cognitive dissonance. The human mind cannot tolerate contradictions in the way it conceptualizes things. It must adjust its concepts to be harmonious with one another. So, society needed to experiment with whether or not the clones possess humanity, but it came out with the conclusion that they really were not human.

Another question is why the clones accepted their fate so readily that they were going to die from the donations. It is true that they were excited about the possibility of deferral but, for some reason, they didn’t protest their fate to die for organ harvest. It seems to be that Ishiguro uses this story as a metaphor as a way to portray the inevitability of society’s attitude. In other words, in order for society to live, they have to consider the clones to be subhuman otherwise society would fall apart. This is symbolized by the strange acceptance on the part of the clones that they are only valuable for the harvesting of their organs.

To conclude, we see that Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go” portrays the concept of abjection throughout his book. The book is about the ambivalence that society feels for the other and the outcast. There are two types of abjection that are contained in Ishiguro’s work. There is the social abjection of the outcast in society and also there is the abjection of death. Society needs to have outcast members to build its ego. Also, the clones are looked at as being something like the walking dead because people are repulsed by them. As Kathy says “Madame never liked us. She’s always been afraid of us. In the way people are afraid of spiders and things” (268).

Discussion Questions

1.Do you think the clones are human?

2.Why did the donors have to die to fulfill their job description? Why couldn’t they donate some of their organs which would allow for their survival?

3.Why is the book called “Never Let Me Go”?

Works Cited

Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Print.

Kristeva, Julia, and Leon S. Roudiez. Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982. Print.

 

 

Categories
Uncategorized

The Power of Abjection

Image result for death

Julia Kristeva’s essay is on the concept of abjection. Abjection means where a person or society casts off an entity or set of entities that it wishes to place outside of the self. The individual or society places it “beyond the scope of the possible the tolerable the thinkable (1). the abject has “only one quality of the object that of being opposed to I.” There are various types of abjection. Kristeva says “food loathing is perhaps the most elementary and most archaic form of abjection.” The ego of the individual expels things which are disgusting away from the self.

We are all born unable to distinguish between ourselves and the outside world. We look at ourselves as being one with our mothers. To establish the self, we need to have some way of distinguishing ourselves from our mother. We form our ego by a series of abjections from things in the world. One of the things we need to expel from ourselves is the idea of death. Corpses are thrust aside by the psyche as something repulsive. When you see something dead, you don’t just understand it as a rational thing, but rather it is something you drive out of your psyche. The confrontation with the corpse is a form of abjection. The corpse represents more than just a rational idea of death. It is something that is thrust out of the psyche.

Kristeva holds that when a person expels something from their consciousness, they put in a realm beyond meaning. Abjection functions in a realm where meaning collapses. It is not just that a person doesn’t think about the abject object. They put it into a realm that is beyond symbolic meaning. There are certain concepts in language that are based on subject and object. In abjection, the distinction between subject and object is lost.

In “Never Let Me Go”, Ishiguro paints a picture of a society that creates clones solely for the purpose of using their body parts to fix people as they get older. These clones are called donors because their sole purpose is the harvesting of their body parts. These clones are looked at as being without souls. As the novel says, “and none of you will be working in supermarkets as I heard you planning the other day. Your lives are set out for you. You’ll become adults, then before you’re old, before you are even middle aged, you will start to donate your vital organs (81). That’s what each of you was created to do.” The clones are looked at as being subhuman. They are the Other. This is a form of abjection for the society at large because the clones have no other purpose than to become donors for the “regular people.”

The clones go to a special school called Hailsham. They are separated from the rest of society. There is a parallel between the clones and how outcast people are looked at in society today. Unfortunate people are not looked at just as people who are less fortunate than the people in regular society. They are looked at as being subhuman. This is in line with Kristeva’s idea that abjection is not just a rational evaluation. It is a type of expelling something from the human ego which is the sense of self.

Both Frankenstein and “Never Let Me Go” have themes of abjection. In Frankenstein, the monster is an outcast because of his grotesque physique. In Never Let Me Go, although the clones are not ostracized because of their physical appearance, they are still considered outcasts because of their position in society. They are only considered to be useful for harvesting their organs. They are not considered to have a soul. Although both were created by man to mimic human beings, they were treated with such animosity and repulsion.

However, Hailsham is not just a storehouse to store clones in. It is a special program that tries to enrich the lives of the clones. The program there tries to locate the humanity in the clones. There is an effort to inspire creativity in the clones. For example, the clones produce art work that is later sold at exhibitions. The art work is inspected to try to see if the clones love some particular person. This was important because the experience of love is a sign of their humanity.

The question is if the society doesn’t value the clones as humans, why does it try to find humanity in the clones? It seems that Ishiguro was trying to portray the ambivalent feelings that the society had about the clones. On the one hand, if society denies the humanity of the clones, then it denies its own humanity. On the other hand, society needs to deny the reality of death and continue to use the clones for body parts. This creates a conflict for the human ego. In psychology, there is a concept called cognitive dissonance. The human mind cannot tolerate contradictions in the way it conceptualizes things. It must adjust its concepts to be harmonious with one another. So, society needed to experiment with whether or not the clones possess humanity, but it came out with the conclusion that they really were not human.

Another question is why the clones accepted their fate so readily that they were going to die from the donations. It is true that they were excited about the possibility of deferral but, for some reason, they didn’t protest their fate to die for organ harvest. It seems to be that Ishiguro uses this story as a metaphor as a way to portray the inevitability of society’s attitude. In other words, in order for society to live, they have to consider the clones to be subhuman otherwise society would fall apart. This is symbolized by the strange acceptance on the part of the clones that they are only valuable for the harvesting of their organs.

To conclude, we see that Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go” portrays the concept of abjection throughout his book. The book is about the ambivalence that society feels for the other and the outcast. There are two types of abjection that are contained in Ishiguro’s work. There is the social abjection of the outcast in society and also there is the abjection of death. Society needs to have outcast members to build its ego. Also, the clones are looked at as being something like the walking dead because people are repulsed by them. As Kathy says “Madame never liked us. She’s always been afraid of us. In the way people are afraid of spiders and things” (268).

Discussion Questions

1.Do you think the clones are human?

2.Why did the donors have to die to fulfill their job description? Why couldn’t they donate some of their organs which would allow for their survival?

3.Why is the book called “Never Let Me Go”?

 

Categories
Uncategorized

The Power of Abjection

Image result for death

Julia Kristeva’s essay is on the concept of abjection. Abjection means where a person or society casts off an entity or set of entities that it wishes to place outside of the self. The individual or society places it “beyond the scope of the possible the tolerable the thinkable (1). the abject has “only one quality of the object that of being opposed to I.” There are various types of abjection. Kristeva says “food loathing is perhaps the most elementary and most archaic form of abjection.” The ego of the individual expels things which are disgusting away from the self.

We are all born unable to distinguish between ourselves and the outside world. We look at ourselves as being one with our mothers. To establish the self, we need to have some way of distinguishing ourselves from our mother. We form our ego by a series of abjections from things in the world. One of the things we need to expel from ourselves is the idea of death. Corpses are thrust aside by the psyche as something repulsive. When you see something dead, you don’t just understand it as a rational thing, but rather it is something you drive out of your psyche. The confrontation with the corpse is a form of abjection. The corpse represents more than just a rational idea of death. It is something that is thrust out of the psyche.

Kristeva holds that when a person expels something from their consciousness, they put in a realm beyond meaning. Abjection functions in a realm where meaning collapses. It is not just that a person doesn’t think about the abject object. They put it into a realm that is beyond symbolic meaning. There are certain concepts in language that are based on subject and object. In abjection, the distinction between subject and object is lost.

In “Never Let Me Go”, Ishiguro paints a picture of a society that creates clones solely for the purpose of using their body parts to fix people as they get older. These clones are called donors because their sole purpose is the harvesting of their body parts. These clones are looked at as being without souls. As the novel says, “and none of you will be working in supermarkets as I heard you planning the other day. Your lives are set out for you. You’ll become adults, then before you’re old, before you are even middle aged, you will start to donate your vital organs (81). That’s what each of you was created to do.” The clones are looked at as being subhuman. They are the Other. This is a form of abjection for the society at large because the clones have no other purpose than to become donors for the “regular people.”

The clones go to a special school called Hailsham. They are separated from the rest of society. There is a parallel between the clones and how outcast people are looked at in society today. Unfortunate people are not looked at just as people who are less fortunate than the people in regular society. They are looked at as being subhuman. This is in line with Kristeva’s idea that abjection is not just a rational evaluation. It is a type of expelling something from the human ego which is the sense of self.

Both Frankenstein and “Never Let Me Go” have themes of abjection. In Frankenstein, the monster is an outcast because of his grotesque physique. In Never Let Me Go, although the clones are not ostracized because of their physical appearance, they are still considered outcasts because of their position in society. They are only considered to be useful for harvesting their organs. They are not considered to have a soul. Although both were created by man to mimic human beings, they were treated with such animosity and repulsion.

However, Hailsham is not just a storehouse to store clones in. It is a special program that tries to enrich the lives of the clones. The program there tries to locate the humanity in the clones. There is an effort to inspire creativity in the clones. For example, the clones produce art work that is later sold at exhibitions. The art work is inspected to try to see if the clones love some particular person. This was important because the experience of love is a sign of their humanity.

The question is if the society doesn’t value the clones as humans, why does it try to find humanity in the clones? It seems that Ishiguro was trying to portray the ambivalent feelings that the society had about the clones. On the one hand, if society denies the humanity of the clones, then it denies its own humanity. On the other hand, society needs to deny the reality of death and continue to use the clones for body parts. This creates a conflict for the human ego. In psychology, there is a concept called cognitive dissonance. The human mind cannot tolerate contradictions in the way it conceptualizes things. It must adjust its concepts to be harmonious with one another. So, society needed to experiment with whether or not the clones possess humanity, but it came out with the conclusion that they really were not human.

Another question is why the clones accepted their fate so readily that they were going to die from the donations. It is true that they were excited about the possibility of deferral but, for some reason, they didn’t protest their fate to die for organ harvest. It seems to be that Ishiguro uses this story as a metaphor as a way to portray the inevitability of society’s attitude. In other words, in order for society to live, they have to consider the clones to be subhuman otherwise society would fall apart. This is symbolized by the strange acceptance on the part of the clones that they are only valuable for the harvesting of their organs.

To conclude, we see that Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go” portrays the concept of abjection throughout his book. The book is about the ambivalence that society feels for the other and the outcast. There are two types of abjection that are contained in Ishiguro’s work. There is the social abjection of the outcast in society and also there is the abjection of death. Society needs to have outcast members to build its ego. Also, the clones are looked at as being something like the walking dead because people are repulsed by them. As Kathy says “Madame never liked us. She’s always been afraid of us. In the way people are afraid of spiders and things” (268).

Discussion Questions

1.Do you think the clones are human?

2.Why did the donors have to die to fulfill their job description? Why couldn’t they donate some of their organs which would allow for their survival?

3.Why is the book called “Never Let Me Go”?

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In-class writing Notes

In-class work 4/26

 

  1. As a group, select a text we have read that interests you.
  2. Do a Google image search and select a cover image.
  3. Analyze the choices the artist makes to represent the novel. What themes are represented? What themes are neglected? What “argument” is the artist making about the novel?