Book Club: “A book about what it is to be human” How far do you agree with this statement?

Hailsham gives the students the chance to show their individuality, personality and souls through their artwork. The art goes to a gallery that attempts to prove they have souls, that they are more human than not and improve the way they are generally treated. Although this doesn't work, the art and creativity proved to be pointless but it did show that the clones did have personalities like humans. It makes a point that the clones are not just ‘medical supplies’ ready for disposal at any moment. The creativity expresses the personalities of the clones that are no different from other human children but they have been dehumanised from society because they were made differently to the other children that act the same as them. The gallery is run by Madame who gives up on her aim to make conditions better because ‘they’ still deem them as medical supplies and Hailsham was just a shut down experiment in the end. Madame does refer to Kathy and Tommy as ‘poor creatures’ after telling them the truth about everything and shutting off any hope for a deferral. This shows them being dehumanised because some humans feel pity on the clones because they are made to be harvested and then killed. Although humans are also born to die, just in a different way. The difference between clones and humans is the way they are made and the way they die at the end of it all. However Tommy doesn't understand that there is no use to this art and he still becomes frustrated with how he isn't the best in art. He gets teased and has tantrums to do with it like any child would. For humans and clones art and creativity express the same thing, individuality. However it might not always be the case, like with Tommy, art and creativity wont always express the individuality of a person. The more you find out about the art and creativity the clones do throughout the book slowly makes you realise how much they have been dehumanised by the society in the book and that the humans want to keep them as medical supplies to be used at their own accord to save human lives even if it is at the death of a clone.

The clones are alive to serve the purpose of saving human lives despite themselves dying. The clones are born to die just like humans, except they are born and made in different ways to serve a different purpose. Humans are free to live their lives as they wish to without any limitations and have long life expectancies due to the clones giving organs. However the clones are nowhere near free, the path of their lives are controlled except the few choices that they get to make. The clones at Hailsham do not get told all the information about what will happen to them. The clones are unaware about how early they will ‘complete’ until they become donors and carers themselves and that when they are unable to survive on their own they are kept alive on life support. ‘Completion’ is an unfamiliarised word for death and completing all of their donations for the humans to benefit from. The clones are kept alive unable to move until the last of the useful body parts are taken for use. The clones are left to have unrealistic hopes and fantasies until they are older. This is the reason why Miss Lucy is annoyed by some of the students talking about how they wanted to go to America and become actors before they become a donor. When Tommy finally realises that he has little time left he decides to spend it with other donors, who will possibly complete at the same time, instead of Kathy. He could do this because he doesn't want Kathy to be hurt for the remainder of her short life as she is coming to the last year of being a carer before she becomes a donor herself. Tommy could also be distancing himself from Kathy because he is finally understanding what is coming next and that his life is controlled by ‘them’ from beginning to end. The society has dehumanised them by removing their freedom and keeping them alive to slaughter them like animals. It is like they are animals at a slaughterhouse on their way to die for a humans benefit and not their own. If the clone was to become unusable in anyway they would be killed like an animal would if they would.The clones have their lives set out in a way that is unavoidable and the only thing anyone can do is make it better for them. On the other hand, humans can choose how their life goes and they can change it to what they want.

In conclusion, the only differences between clones and humans are the things their society and the government in charge of them have set for them and the way they were made. You can see more of these differences as Kathy grows up and goes into her teen and adult life, as a child she was just like a normal child in every way except the purpose and making. The clones are like humans with the personalised stories they have at the different places they have been with different people and clones.

In Mr Bingham’s Year 10 class the pupils have been studying “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro. Published in 2004, the prize-winning novel depicts a strange dystopia where the difference between clones and human is often hard to tell. The class enjoyed the novel and would very much recommend it. Enjoy!

Hailsham is family to the clones or the closest thing to family they can have. Other clones that weren't from Hailsham only had their ‘original’. The clones are made from the originals genetics, like humans would from their parents although humans have two peoples genetics in them instead of one. It makes the clones different from humans but it also partially makes them orphans in a way because they do not know their ‘parent’. Hailsham is like a family to the students because the staff and humans involved with the institute act like parents towards them. The guardians look after them, educate them, supply them with the necessary things and give them opportunities and possessions. The students can take these possessions and opportunities with them when they leave, like when you leave home. The clones in Hailsham are like family to each other too because they are given the chance to develop close friendships that can last their lifetime despite it only being short. The friendships will give them the support they don't have from a biological family. Hailsham also provides them with stories and tales that can stick with them, like Norfolk. Norfolk is said to be where you can find lost things and they have known this story since they were children and it stuck, like old childhood tales from family. The stories provide a sort of comfort for the clones as they reminisce before death, like humans do. The clones don't have ‘ordinary families’ as Ruth describes them. The clones know that they aren't human and don't have biological ‘ordinary’ families like humans do but they can have similar relationships giving the things that they missed without a family. The word ’ordinary’ shows that they are the other and not human because they do not have a biological family, just an original they will probably never meet, but they do have the relationships a human has.The only thing the clones can’t get from not having a family is the biological factor and the security you can get from having parents. The clones can gather the support, love and memories that humans get from families from their guardians and friends that help them through childhood schooling.