Never Let Me Go II

Having finished read Never Let Me Go, it has made me think about people and who we consider "freaks". The characters Ruth, Tommy and Kathy are considered to be abnormal because they are only in existence for their donations. From an outsiders' point of view, however, these people would not be considered "freakish" at all. I am having a hard time decided whether i agree with Miss Lucy's point of view on the "students" or Miss Emily's. I agree with Miss Emily trying to encourage the creative side of the students and have them prove that they have souls because I can understand why those who are outside of Hailsham might have this point of view. I do not think, however, that the students should have been as sheltered as they were. I would like to think that the students could grow up with this incredible sense of creativity and self, but with their situation, having the truth told to them completely would make this hard so I understand where both the guardians are coming from.

The story was also very heartbreaking. As a reader, and someone who is a fan of happy endings, I wanted Tommy and Kathy to be together and for Kathy, Ruth and Tommy's relationship to always be positive. This is obviously the fantastical side of me being expressed since the story would have not been very good with my ending. As it is, Never Let Me Go has really touched me in a melancholy kin d of way. It made me really thin about people who are different but try and are encouraged so much to fit in with people who are "normal". With all the novels we have read in this course so far, the "freaks" and "geeks" seem more and more relateable. The characters in Never Let Me Go were especially easy to be empathetic with. The fears, hopes and challenges of being an adolescent and a young adult were very convincing and made it easy for me to relate to the characters.

The point is the definition of Freaks and Geeks is so variant because every individual is different and that is what really came out for me while reading Never Let Me Go. The novel really spoke to me and I am glad to have had the opportunity to think about these characters in a way that I probably would not have if I read it outside of this class.