Last week we began reading Kazuo Ishiguro's acclaimed novel Never Let Me Go as our final text for British Literature this year. Much of the early part of the novel is set at Hailsham, a boarding school-like setting where the main characters spend their childhood and teenage years.
Within the first few pages of the novel, readers can tell that children like Kathy, Tommy and Ruth aren't entirely "normal" and that all at Hailsham might not be what it seems. In flashbacks, Kathy remembers her time at Hailsham and focuses, in Chapter Three, on one incident in particular when the children truly began to realize that they weren't like other children. After "swarming" Madame to see how she reacts to them, Kathy remembers realizing that they were different and seems to claim that, in many ways, this is a universal experience we all go through. She writes, "So you're waiting, even if you don't quite know it, waiting for the moment when you realize that you really are different to them; that there are people out there, like Madame, who don't hate you or wish you any harm, but who nevertheless shudder at the very thought of you-- of how you were brought into this world and why-- and who dread the idea of your hand brushing agains theirs. The first time you glimpse yourself through the eyes of a person like that, it's a cold moment."
Do you have your own "cold moment"? For this week's blog post, I would like for you to write about a time you can remember where a bit of innocence was lost; where you felt different for the first time and this caused you to reflect on who you were and what your place was in the world. This could be a small or big moment, one that changed your life dramatically or simply made you see the world in a slightly different light. Thank you, in advance, for sharing!
Within the first few pages of the novel, readers can tell that children like Kathy, Tommy and Ruth aren't entirely "normal" and that all at Hailsham might not be what it seems. In flashbacks, Kathy remembers her time at Hailsham and focuses, in Chapter Three, on one incident in particular when the children truly began to realize that they weren't like other children. After "swarming" Madame to see how she reacts to them, Kathy remembers realizing that they were different and seems to claim that, in many ways, this is a universal experience we all go through. She writes, "So you're waiting, even if you don't quite know it, waiting for the moment when you realize that you really are different to them; that there are people out there, like Madame, who don't hate you or wish you any harm, but who nevertheless shudder at the very thought of you-- of how you were brought into this world and why-- and who dread the idea of your hand brushing agains theirs. The first time you glimpse yourself through the eyes of a person like that, it's a cold moment."
Do you have your own "cold moment"? For this week's blog post, I would like for you to write about a time you can remember where a bit of innocence was lost; where you felt different for the first time and this caused you to reflect on who you were and what your place was in the world. This could be a small or big moment, one that changed your life dramatically or simply made you see the world in a slightly different light. Thank you, in advance, for sharing!
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