Tuesday, April 26, 2011

NRJ2 Nature vs. Nurture



In Ishiguro’s book Never Let Me Go he uses the theme of Nature Vs. Nurture to show no matter what ones upbringings they support how they act, but not totally dependent upon it.  
These individuals in Hailsham are brought up in a totally separate area physically and emotionally from the rest of the way of a normal person, but they end up having the same emotions and desires in life.  These students are live inside a school separate from outside influences, except from the tape that Kathy discovers from the “sales”.  These “sales” are their only real way of obtaining outside influences and ideas of the world  and shaping their way of life.  Similarly, to the minimal outside influence of “Nature” the “Nurture” characteristics provided by the guardians are very minimalistic.  The guardians crush the dreams of the students as they want to become actors and famous, but as they are told to do, the guardians pull the students back into reality of they are truly built to be only donors.  It is ironic Ishiguro use the word guardian to term these parental figures, in that they are more guard of the students from leaving the school and obtaining outside influences than actual parental figures.  These guardians try to keep the individuals in the right direction, but these students are constantly questioning their authority from their beginning in Hailsham until their final resting place as donors. 

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

NRJ 1

Free will is the ability to do as you please and setup your future as you want.  This is the dream of all people not to be controlled by anyone but follow your dreams and do as you please.  For the students in Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro they do not have these luxuries as they are confined within the walls of Hailsham.  They are given no interaction with the rest of the world and are told how to act and what they can watch, listen and do.
          “Your lives are set out for you. You’ll become adults, then before you’re old, before you’re even middle-aged, you’ll start to donate your vital organs. That’s what each of you was created to do. You’re not like the actors you watch on your videos, you’re not even like me. You were brought into this world for a purpose, and your futures, all of them, have been decided.” (Ishiguro 81)
These kids have no choice they were created and formed in a lab being formed by their teachers into what they should be, controlled by every step of their life.  These kids are told not to smoke only for the fact they are to be used as replacement parts and that if they are damaged goods they are of no use anymore.
I believe that Ishiguro uses this book to show we may have certain futures set for us never follow along to always follow your dream in that you are in control of your own destiny.  We have the ability to think and do for ourselves possible the greatest gift possible and we should not let it go to waste following others.