Possibles?

There are many aspects of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. As the end of the second section of this novel draws to a close, there was yet another mysterious piece of the puzzle revealed. Kathy finally brings up an part of their life journey that gives a little more clue as to how and why these certain students were brought into this world. "Since each of us was copied at some point from a normal person, there must be, for each of us, somewhere out there, a model getting on with his or her life" (Ishiguro,139). The book leaves it just at that with no further explanations. There are only skeptical guesses about what these "possibles" really are. No matter what their individual theories were, however, they all had one thing in common. "We, all of us, to varying degrees, believed that when you saw the person you were copied from, you'd get some insight into who you were deep down, and maybe too, you'd see something of what your life held in store" (Ishiguro, 140). These students have been left only to guess really of what their futures hold in store from them. They very minimally know where they came from. I believe that the students, even if they keep it to themselves, feel as though they need to see who they were copied from, or else, they won't feel as if they know where they belong in the world.

I have a few ideas as to what these "possibles" and "copies" mean. I think these copies could be one of two things. I believe that they were genetically manipulated cells that were grown in a lab somewhere so that they are backup bodies of those who's DNA they were copied. It, also, could be that they were physically born from mothers, but then immediately turned over to science so that they were still backup bodies for who they will donate their organs to. I think their copies were born with diseases or illnesses that they will down the road need a transplant. These students then were made for the sole purpose of spare parts. If their possible needs the heart or brain transplant, then he will be made to die for the purpose of their possible living. I find it unfair then for these students from Hailsham. It seems as though they don't really understand what is going on. If my hypothesis is correct, these students will never have the same fate as their possibles.


I found this very disturbing.