The suggestion of free will, or lack of free will I should say, was a very important theme in Never Let Me Go, a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. I believe that within the borders of Hailsham the idea of independence, although already somewhat known implausible, never left the minds of the students, and even of some of the guardians. “If you’re going to have decent lives, then you’ve got to know and know properly…Your lives are set out for you. You’ll become adults, then before you’re old, before you’re even middle-aged, you’ll state to donate your vital organs. That’s what each of you was created to do…You were brought into this world for a purpose, and your futures, all of them, have been decided. (Ishiguro 81)
Even after realizing their fate was to donate their internal organs, and eventually die for what some believed to be a good cause, the Hailsham students continued their lives with as what they believed to be normal routines. If any of us had been given that fate I do believe our reactions would not have been the same, and at least an argument would have followed. For the majority though, they lived each day no different from the last, even when getting ready for their career positions no big fuss was made.
I believe that Ishiguro was trying to state that no matter who we are in life, no matter what we do, our lives are planned out in some way. The regular people, the clones, guardians, or donors, we all have a set future that we can’t change. Even with our knowledge of our predetermined fates, like the students of Hailsham, we should live our lives to the fullest and enjoy our days until the end.
Great quote Amanda, that is what immediately stuck out in my head first when i thought of free will. The fact that their future has been set out for them and there is nothing they can do. I agree with you 100% i believe that these kids were made to have no free will.
ReplyDeleteI like your observation regarding freewill. The humans showed their freewill by having clones created to provide organs when needed, and the lack of freewill is provided by the clones with their lack of or incapability to do and they pleased. Being fashioned for an end, the clones went along life as the humans wanted them to, never considering leaving or hiding from their fate as thought lacking the capability of thinking for them.
ReplyDelete