In Part One of Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, the narrator primarily focuses on flashbacks, some of which she doesn’t even remember many details of. Throughout these retellings, Ishiguro utilizes the second person, often calling us [the reader] to attention. What is the purpose of this stylistic choice and what significance do you think telling these stories first bear?
ENGL 360 | Future Perfect Human
Prof. Myra Seaman | Fall 2016
Personally, I have always felt that the use of the second person was a bit odd: while it directs ones attention, it always feels set apart or alien to me. This sense of being apart, at least for me, is how I feel the students at Hailsham must have felt during their time as students there and later as they entered the world; while they are together, they are set apart from their instructors and the world as a whole. The use of second person also allows Kathy to gloss over the things she no longer remembers or that someone from this world would already know, and the reader must accept this, deciding that the details either aren’t important or are left out specifically to focus on more important things, or things that Kathy thought important at the time. The entire work has this ‘apart’ feeling; while the students interact with one another and the world at large, they never seem to really be part of it, stuck in their roles as donors or carers until they complete.
While I agree with Levena that the use of the second person is a bit odd, I think that Ishiguro uses it very strategically. The way I see it, the use of the second person draws the reader in and creates a kind of relationship between the reader and Kathy herself. As I read I felt as though Kathy was speaking directly to me; she was retelling her stories from her time at Hailsham specifically for my benefit and for my understanding. The way in which Kathy seemingly speaks directly to the reader is unique in that we are gathering information from her perspective. At times this kind of story telling can feel limiting. There were moments in Part I where I caught myself wondering what a situation might have looked like from Tommy or Ruth’s point of view. But again I think this is Ishiguro’s intention. Kathy is telling stories from the past in a second person point of view which isolates her time at Hailsham but at the same time makes readers reliant on Kathy for information. As readers, we become dependent on Kathy for an understanding of the past and of the present.
I think the purpose of Ishiguro’s narrative form is revealed in Levena’s comment that it feels “set apart or alien.” Namely, this separation arises (at least for me) from the way the 2nd person perspective involves Kathy speaking directly to and thereby directly involving the reader. This direct involvement is seen especially clearly in moments when Kathy speaks explicitly to the reader, in moments such as her quiet rhetorical aside that she “doesn’t know how it was where you were” (13). Though we, the collective reader, arrive at Ishiguro’s novel at a seemingly safe distance, his choice of narrative form forces the reader into the bizarrely weird world of Hailsham. We are told that we had experiences where we “where” (13). Ishiguro’s use of the second person is effective at disorienting the reader.
I agree with Miller in the fact that Ishiguro uses the second person quite well throughout the novel. To me, it makes it sound more personal to the reader. Although the story does seem to be missing some gaps along the way, I believe that’s what makes the story more interesting. The sense of mystery carries the story further along and can make it more frustrating in a way, but I still appreciate the story as a reader. Like Levena and Miller mentioned, the second person perspective does make our main character, Kathy, seem quite isolated. I think it works best for the story, especially because a number of characters in this story are isolated other than just Kathy. The authorities in Hailsham seem detached, Tommy is an outcast, and the unknown about life in Hailsham is isolated information no one is all that sure about. To summarize, the second person isn’t just fitting for Kathy, but for all of the symbols and characters present in this story. Not only that, but telling these stories and bits of information in this order further adds to the isolation theme present in our story by also making the reader feel a little isolated themselves.
I think that Ishiguro’s narrative style in this book lends the sense of authenticity to the narrator. It’s nearly conversational, except for the direct quotations of the dialogue, but even then, Kathy admits that she doesn’t remember all of the details and therefore isn’t a reliable narrator. This says that facts aren’t important. It is a subtle pull away from the events of the narrative, rather leaning focus towards Kathy’s own experiences and reactions to them. I think this is an interesting approach for the author to take in this sort of dystopian fiction, because rather than focus on the world itself, Ishiguro decided to detail the impact of this world through the eyes of another not only affected but trapped by it.
I agree mostly with what the previous comment states, another point I would make is that while we are dependent upon Kathy as the storyteller we are also put in a position where we are forced to create meaning on our own. This in affect not only increases our interests, but causes us to speculate and posit potential outcomes, which I believe makes this an even more and exciting way to tell the story. The idea that we, the reader, in a sense are seeing this story develop in reverse from Kathy being in the position of a carer to student in these flashbacks even further peaks our interest and suspends our disbelief. While we are learning of the new developments we are trying to figure out whether or not things are becoming more hopeful or sinister for these characters. I think the significance of this style choice of first explaining the events at Hailsham, lies in the fact that we are once again left to our own creative devices leaving us on the ledge so to speak, and creating a more thrilling experience for the reader. This type of storytelling with the suspension of disbelief affect in place allows us to accept these unreasonable circumstances that the main characters are in and relate to them as human beings on an even deeper level.
I like this idea about it making us create meaning on our own. It alludes to the titular song, “Never Let Me Go” that Kathy becomes so connected to. She directly states she doesn’t really hear all the words, and attaches her own unique meaning to the song based off her own emotions and experiences. It is a pivotal moment in part one where we are allowed to learn about the darker side of Hailsham, accompanied by the weeping Madame.
Edit For First Post/ Quotation:
When referring to the somewhat sinister or unusual events of the story, there is a specific part with Miss Emily in chapter four when Kathy is walking and she is spotted, “and I was about to hurry past before she spotted me, but just then she she turned and looked straight me. I froze, thinking I was for it, but then noticed she was carrying on as before, except now she was mouthing her address at me. Then, natural as you like, she turned away to fix her gaze on some other imaginary student in another pat of the room”(Ishiguro,45). This is an example of exceptional eeriness felt by Kathy. It really makes you wonder what is really going on in this story with the tantalizingly good storytelling.
I think these are all good thoughts on how the narrative style works to the benefit of the themes in the story. Something we have not touched on from the prompt is how it calls on the reader specifically, with lines like the reoccurring “I don’t know how it was where you were”. Kathy makes several uses of this kind of boundary crossing line, even guessing that we have “felt something like” certain feelings she describes in our own childhood. Subtly, this kind of structure makes us think back on our own childhood memories and experiences, in all their jumbled, joyful, sinister, confusing and enlightening formats. By placing us in the same memory orientated childhood mind frame as Kathy, it humanizes her and makes us genuinely care about her story and her future, as many of her dream like memories sound eerily similar to our own. Something at the edge of the woods, something out on the playground, that’s just hazy enough with also just enough sentimentality to make it briefly one in the same.
This is a great point Carlos makes, how Kathy directly asks these questions throughout the story, in doing so weaving these relatable adolescent situations into the narrative. This definitely makes this even more thought provoking as Carlos states and allows us to compare our own memories while acutely examining Kathy’s, which makes the novel even more poignant.
In terms of Kathy’s narrative choice to address “us” directly using the second pronoun, it makes sense as a stylistic convention if we see the novel in the scope of a conversation. Kathy is having a conversation with us and therefore including us – her readers. However, even though I generally enjoy being pulled into the story, this use of second person point-of-view left me feeling more estranged than engaged. It was as if we, the readers, were spying in on Kathy’s story. She says once, “But that’s not really what I want to talk about just now” as if she is struggling with herself to decide what she wants to talk about and needing to change the subject because it is too much to discuss. Yes, her usage of “you” in the narrative seems conversational, but it seems as if she is speaking aloud her thoughts to herself.