Homework for Lesson #35, Never Let Me Go

Sally's Homework:

How are the book's characters similar to regular humans? How are they different? Or are they exactly the same?

In my opinion, all the students at Hailsham are regular humans. They are independent individuals, they are not someone’s copy, the only thing which makes them different is that they are not unique. Although they share the same appearance with their model, from inside they are different human beings. For instance, students love and make friends with someone different from their models, they may feel sad sometimes when their models do not. Kathy loves Tommy but her model even do no know who Tommy is. 

What make humans different is that we have emotions. So if they have independent feelings and thoughts, they are not robots or copies anymore, they are “independent copies”.

I believe that is also the explanation of the writer paying so much attention to sexual urges and relationships. In this extreme way, the writer was trying to tell us that the characters truly have emotions and feelings. They seek friendship and love just as we do. But students in Hailsham are never treated as individuals, they are just machines that dedicate to save others. No one cares about love and friendship between them, they are protected because they are products instead of humans. That’s why I suppose this book a tragedy, because all students in Hailsham are not respected to love, to choose, and to be humans.