Text in Context Essay

Are Clones Human?

Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go creates an alternate world that resembles our own except in that there are clones in the 1990s.  Most could agree that this book is a commentary on how those who are isolated from most of the population are still just like normal everyday people. The most pertinent question in this book is the humanness of the main characters, both through their view and the view of the reader. This idea of humanness has to be discussed because the book is essentially centered on the humanness of the characters in conjunction with the ethics of using clones, which means that if the idea is not discussed this book will not be understood. The look at the humanness of the characters and the ethics of clones parallels the real world with the discussion around in vitro fertilization(IVF), which is something that could have influenced Ishiguro as he wrote this book.

The narrator, Kathy, is one of the aforementioned clones in the novel. The book is written in such a way as to indicate that she is either talking to other clones or carers in the society of the book. This creates an interesting dynamic, because this book is written a bit like an autobiography and a bit like a conversation with another person. This means that while the readers are privy to Kathy’s thoughts and feelings, they are filtered by her as well, mostly through her memories. This style creates a sense that Kathy is human, because she appears like an everyday person. The lack of an outward difference in appearance is more significant when the clones go to the outside world, but the narrative style focuses on the thought process of someone whom the outside society in the book does not consider to be fully human. The way the book jumps around however, does indicate that the narrator is human, because remembering things that happened based off of other things is a very human characteristic. For example, Kathy says “This was all a long time ago so I might have some of it wrong…” at the beginning of the second chapter, which is very human (Ishiguro, page 13). There are various sentences like this sprinkled throughout the novel, as Kathy tries to remember her past in order to pass her story onward. While this idea is not directly paralleled to the debate around IVF, this idea very much ties into the overarching question of “what does it mean to be human?”. This question has plagued philosophers and scientists for thousands of years and will probably plague them for many more. However, with the introduction of in vitro fertilization in 1978 this discussion has become much more urgent and relevant to the times, especially considering the success in cloning Dolly the sheep in 1998 (Plows, page 36). However, the debate about this never really deals with how someone might tell a story about their life. Telling a story in the way this book is written means that the reader basically follows Kathy around in her life. This can make the book seem slow because her life is actually quite normal, and it is easy to see how someone would react to such a life and assume that it is a human life.

Ishiguro most likely knew about the IVF debate and either read or heard about the various articles pertaining to the ethics and questions surrounding IVF in the late 90s and early 2000s. Often this debate is paired with stem cell and genetics research even though they are not the same thing. In 1978, the first baby using in vitro fertilization was born (Plows, 36). Thus, when Ishiguro wrote Never Let Me Go, this debate had been going on for some 27 years prior.

This book focuses specifically on the lives and feelings of the clones themselves and not so much on how outsiders view them which is an interesting choice. This book directly contrasts the discussions which are made by those outside of the community with the clone community. Using the clones, specifically Kathy, as the focus of the story allows the reader insight into just how alike the non-cloned people are to the clones. They are not physically any different looking and could blend into any crowd. In one chapter, Kathy, Tommy, Ruth and two others go to Norfolk. They walk into a gallery and the lady does not know that they are clones. “…the lady asked: ‘Are you art students?’ ‘Not exactly,’ I said before Tommy could respond. ‘We’re just, well, keen.’ The silver-haired lady came out from behind her desk…” clearly indicates that the lady does not recognize them as clones (Ishiguro, 163). In this case it brings up the question of if something looks and sounds human is it definitely human? While this is not part of the debate in the early 2000s, this idea is discussed in various other similar books. Clearly, those born through IVF are human, they are just conceived in a different way.

 The IVF debate is centered more around the idea of if it should be done and what is ethical when considering using it. However, this ties into the idea of the clones, and if they are considered humans, would it be ethical to continue using them the way the society in Never Let Me Go is using them. How “normal” society is using them is made clear later in the book, when Kathy and Tommy try to get an extension to live a “normal” life , so they can have more time together.  They go to talk to Madame, the only other outsider that was not a teacher they had contact with at Hailsham, and the conversation indicates that they are indeed human. “‘Because of course’—Madame cut in suddenly – ‘your art will reveal your inner selves! That’s it, isn’t it? Because your art will display your souls!’” This speaks more to the philosophy debate regarding what being human means more than the fertilization debate, and it is still pertinent (Ishiguro, 254).

The reader becomes aware that the clones are used for organ donations as they get deeper into the book.  This is never overtly said but it is very clear in the  book . This is where many of the parallels between the idea of clones as humans and IVF babies as humans comes into play. Many of the objectors to IVF do not necessarily object directly to the fertilization but to the knowledge that many embryos are destroyed before being implanted (Levinson and Reiss, page 70). Using the ability to create more embryos and store them increases the chances of successful IVF implantation (Levinson and Reiss, 71). Some people consider the destruction of these embryos to be the destruction of human life, which is especially interesting when considering that the novel has a society that uses clones that are definitely more human than the embryos in a lab (Levinson and Reiss, 71). This issue does not come up as a specific debate in the novel, most likely because the novel is written from Kathy’s point of view. The usage of the clones as the main characters and narrator creates a clear debate about whether they are human.

The lack of overt and violent resistance displayed by the clones also adds to this debate. While there is subtle resistance throughout the book there is also the sense of acceptance on the part of the clones. This is strange, because if the clones were considered human, particularly if they themselves considered themselves human they most likely would have mounted some amount of overt resistance. The context for this novel comes from what Ishiguro knew, that most people are not going to be the revolutionaries, but are more likely to subtly resist. While this does not parallel the debate around IVF, it is still important for the consideration of the humanness of the characters. Tommy brings up the idea at one point that the clones were told all of the important information just before they could understand it. Miss Emily confirms this when talking about Miss Lucy to Tommy and Kathy, “‘She thought you students had to be made more aware. More aware of what lay ahead of you, who you are, what you were for. She believed you should be given as full a picture as possible.’” indicating that the students at Hailsham were never completely aware of what was happening (Ishiguro, 267). This was a significant ethics question in the book and the idea of telling people how they were created is something that is technically applicable to in vitro fertilization. In addition, because of this ethics question, there is the personal dilemma around a woman being required to say that she used IVF to conceive. In the UK, there is a law that covers this exact question. The law restricts the divulging of knowledge to the person receiving treatment for IVF, but those undergoing IVF need to understand what they are undergoing and when they might have to divulge this information (Dimond). Thus, the idea of who is privy to the information is indirectly linked to the debates surrounding IVF. The clones lack of information meant that the clones had almost no words for escape or even ideas about it, thus reducing their forms of rebellion to small things, like Kathy telling her story in this novel.

Ishiguro would have known about these debates, even if he did not specifically look up articles, because the ethics question was big in the media when Dolly the sheep was cloned. He would have also known about the IVF debates and how they created questions about what should be considered human. What is interesting in the book’s case is that the debates around humanness never seem to be brought out in the open. However, the book deals with many of the issues brought up by the IVF debate in subtle ways and shows how someone that is different could view their status, particularly when they themselves cannot or choose not to take part in the debate about their humanness. So, while the book may not be directly about IVF there are multiple parallels and knowing about the debates surrounding IVF helps the reader to understand the meaning behind the book.

References

Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. Vintage International, 2006, New York.

Dimond, B. (1999). Confidentiality 7: Human fertilization and embryology issues. British Journal of Nursing, 8(16), 1108. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/docview/199482411?accountid=8360

Key Issues in Bioethics: A Guide for Teachers, edited by Ralph Levinson, and Michael Reiss, Routledge, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uaz/detail.action?docID=181840.

Plows, Alexandra, and Alexandra Plows. Debating Human Genetics: Contemporary Issues in Public Policy and Ethics, Routledge, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uaz/detail.action?docID=557315.

Seguin, Eve. "Narration and Legitimation: The Case of In Vitro Fertilization." Discourse & Society: An International Journal for the Study of Discourse and Communication in Their Social, Political and Cultural Contexts 12.2 (2001): 195-215. Web.