The Paradox Of We 'D Take It In Our Heads'

In the short story “Nine Lives” by Ursula K. Le Guin the clones were unaccounted of this essence. The clones independence and self-sustaining behaviors were normal … to them. They were typhlotic to emotions and feelings of others except themselves . What exactly does this mean you ask ? The clones klacked Human connection; they were blind to the characteristic “Why shiould they have sympathy? That’s one of the things

In Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go, while the genetic makeup of the model does have some bearing on the life of the clone, it is severely limited by the increased importance of individual experience in the development of identity and personality. In order to be perfectly identical clones in all aspects, mental and physical, every facet of the clone’s life must mirror that of the model precisely. While identical genetics play a very important role in not only determining physical appearance but also intelligence, as well as any predisposition for developing certain diseases and disorder, any effect genetics has on the mental development of a clone, the clone’s differing experiences throughout his or her formative years overpower it. Experience

Their differences, whether genetic or racial, become a sole marker of identification. When Kathy pleads to delay her donations with Madame, a periodic outside visitor of Hailsham and a representation of the non-clone society, Kathy notices the cold, indifferent treatment. She remarks, “I don't know if she recognized us at that point; but without doubt, she saw and decided in a second what we were”(Ishiguro 248). Madame instantly identifies Kathy as an object rather than a person, thus reflecting society’s decision to dehumanize Kathy and other clone characters. Ishiguro continues to emphasize how certain features define humanness with his careful selection of descriptive details for each character. While he carefully refrains from any racial descriptions of the clones, their characterization mimics those who have been historically discriminated. The clone’s treatment from society “appears little different from the contemporary exploitation of nonwhite workers, who are often reduced simply to bodies that carry out various forms of undesirable and poorly paid labor” (Gill 848). Similar to racial minorities, Kathy and her peers are not seen for their humanity but for their application to serve society. Their defining characteristics, whether racial or biogenetic, becomes a tool to maintain societal order and

Instead, Ishiguro introduced the readers to the creation’s point of view. The novel portrayed them as beings with complex humanness rather than mindless monsters, preventing them from being reduced to simple antagonist. The trio - Kathy, Ruth and Tommy - are students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school for cloned children whom were born and raised solely for the purpose of organ donations. Never Let Me Go whisks the reader into an alternative world of 1990’s England and into the lives of these children, a world filled with much light yet as much darkness. What hides behind this boarding school was deceit and manipulation. While there was art and literature classes, all education was geared towards conditioning the students to fulfill their predetermined responsibility - the sole task of organ donation. The children have no concrete knowledge outside the walls of Hailsham as they were sheltered from the brutal reality of their fate. However at the same time, sheltered from the alienation and fear of their existence. To the outside world, they were nothing more than a disposable vessel carrying replacement organs. Thus, frightening to those who didn’t hold the same fate. But, also not “human enough” to deserve human rights. This results to the perplexity of the trio as they are torn between the identity they established themselves and the identity the world defines them as. Yet no one attempted to question or escape this parasitism relationship. Or is it simply because one acclimates to their environment? But perhaps no amount of pondering or pursuit of another dream could ever change the inevitable outcome. After all, it is society that ultimately decides their fate: creation of life and loss of life. Even the children maintain this

In "Never Let Me Go", The novel begins by capturing the life of Hailsham, a mysterious boarding school designed to raise "special" students by dooming them to a determined fate of relinquishing their internal organs. As they grow older, the students are sent to complete their given tasks which are aided by specific "training" and eventually relocation to different hospitals in order to becoming a donor or "carer" for the donor before becoming one himself. Ishiguro focuses more on the emotional side of his characters by developing very sensitive relationships between the "clones", as they reflect upon their childhoods and set out to find answers to many secrets about the isolated gates of Hailsham. As a result, numerous themes are used freedom and free will, language and commumication, fate, power, class distinction. Also various techniques are used as narration style, symbolism,settings and the importance of the title.

Identity forms one of the central themes in both texts, shaping the decisions and experiences of the Replicants and the clones throughout their lives. Ishiguro and Scott foreground the lack of identity afforded to the pseudo-human characters through their status as products and the manifestations of this in their names, memories, and pasts. The students at Hailsham, the school where clone children are raised in

Barbara Ehrenreich's passage conveys the importance of being your own self, how you don't have to be someone else. Ehrenreich seems to be reacting to the propensity for many people to adopt whole-heartedly the rights, behaviors, and beliefs of their ancestors. Some embrace

The film GATTACA and the short story, “Nine Lives,” exemplifies the ethics of altering human life at the genetic level, through techniques of genetic engineering. Throughout GATTACA, the ability to create improved, even superior forms of human life as a positive development through eugenics is shown as well as arousing questions about the moral implications of such engineering. The main protagonist in GATTACA, Vincent Freeman, battles with the discrimination of being an “invalid” in a world of “valids” and comes to realize that he is not an inferior being in the midst of an altered humanity. In “Nine Lives,” a lone survivor of the ten genetically engineered clones of John Chow struggle come to understand itself in relation to unaltered humanity and its individuality for the first time in its life. A dystopian society is produced when unaltered humans and genetically engineered beings coexist and interact with one another due to nefarious social practices such filtering menial jobs only to “invalids” in GATTACA and the emphasis in the value of clones and their worth to society as collective work group rather than focusing on each individual’s contribution to society. The film GATTACA exhibits the adverse nature of eugenics while “Nine Lives” stresses the importance of individualism instead of collectivism and fend off the need to be reliant on others to feel welcomed in society.

In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, education and creative expression aren’t exactly the way today’s society teaches education and self-expression. In the novel the goal is to teach certain people certain things. Each clone is given a specific job and aren’t granted permission to further their jobs that are assigned to them. In Brave New World, there is no creative or self-expression. Having individualism is basically telling the people they have the right to freely express themselves. Freely expressing ideas and emotions will lead to instability which would go against the society’s moto, “…COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABIBILTY.”(pg.3).

The moment one begins to read “Think Like A Freak,” he or she automatically begins to retrain his or her mind to think critically. Levitt and Dubner want one to realize that he or she teach his or her mind to analyze problems—both large and small—from a critical perspective. For example, consider the following scenario: Your team is playing in a FIFA World Cup Final, and a penalty shootout will determine the winner. You (the person reading this now) will take the final penalty kick. If you make, you will be FIFA World Cup Champion. Nevertheless, if you miss, you will forever be remembered as the “footballer would made their nation cry. Levitt and Dubner use this scenario to force one to recognize that in life, anything can be questioned—from

A paradox can be a very confusing concept, for there never seems to be a right answer or an end to the problem. The old poem of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight exemplifies the puzzling problem of a paradox. Throughout the whole poem it glorifies courtesy, loyalty, and trust-worthiness. To be a true and noble knight, Gawain must exhibit these qualities. Through the poem though, it shows how courtesy does not work in reality. This paradox seems to have no end because the poem emphasizes courtesy, but it does not work out for Gawain in the end, and yet still he needs to uphold it and glorify it. As endless and the paradox may seem, there is a possible solution of upholding courtesy as best as possible. Upholding courtesy will not please

In the case of Never Let Me Go, the clones showcase this through their end purpose being to donate their organs. After this, Eatough analyzes Kathy’s vocation specifically and her mentality towards it. Eatough writes, “Kathy’s vocation transfers effective care from her own body and channels it into attentive care for the well-being of other bodies;” (pg. 149). What Eatough is saying here is that Kathy and other proficient carers are able to care for their donors because they no longer care for their own self. This is the ultimate form of bildungsroman because it goes past the self and brings Kathy to only care for her community and

I have found that I often fall victim to the “What Ifs” cognitive distortion; I frequently ruminate on what could happen or what I could have done differently in a particular situation. I have always been a very cautious individual and I sometimes obsess over how my decisions impact others and what others might think of my decisions or behavior. I feel that this has a lot to do with my childhood experiences and my drive to be the “perfect child”, which is of course is not possible and not expected. I was an over thinker who wanted to ensure that I did not cause my parents, the stress and heartache they had experienced as a result of the behavior of my older sister. There were also very high expectations that were set by my parents, as

As Thomas C. Foster states in his novel, How to Read Literature like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines, “The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge” (3). And commonly, a path to obtain this self-knowledge is a road. But in Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, irony is created by this self-knowledge not being taken by any of his characters. The novel follows the lives of Kathy H. and her friends, each copies of other people, in a world where scientific advancement is held over morality. Copies are created to grow up to tend for those who are donating their organs as carers, before donating themselves. They are confronted by various opportunities for change taking the shape of access to cars, dreaming

Ishiguro uses repetition in his writing as Ms Lucy repeats the word “none” quite a few times to lay emphasis on her statement and diminishes any hope the clones may have had. She stops them from planning out their lives in this unrealistic manner and wants to stop them from dreaming of the roles they could possibly take on even if they’re as trivial and ordinary as working in the supermarket. This is also the first time in the novel that it is clearly stated that the students were “created” for their vital organs. The literary theory of Marxism applies to this as Ms Lucy establishes herself in a position higher than the clones enough to remind them that they are at the bottom of the chain and stuck there, that they do not hold any power to make the decision or control what happens to them in their lives and that they were literally created for the sole purpose of donating their vital organs to humans. The analytic theory of discrimination too can be applied as clones are placed outside of mainstream society and tucked away seen as unfit to be a part of society. They are also not given the chance to step outside to the real world and become fully integrated members but are rather separated and remain in the artificial community made for