Ruth’s comment > Likes and Comments

I think that's entirely on purpose. The conditioning argument is right. They were told over and over again how important they were and eventually told what their role in the world was. We are eventually told we won't live forever and what our life expectancy is. The same happened to them, only their life expectancy is much shorter. There are tons of books and movies with similar setups of people being bred like this, but in all of those they are lied to and not told what their lot in life is and their plots are basically what you're describing.

I also wondered why they didn't run away in reality many people would stay but there are rebels who will not conform. They certainly had an impression of other people and how they lived. I also got the feeling that was not just in England,but world wide, so maybe they wouldn't be able to leave.

I think this touches on an essential question of the novel, which is why do the characters react the way they do to their fate? Some become carers to ease the way for others, some cling to the hope of a rumored loophole, some take pride in being donors, and some rage against their situation (as Tommy does from a young age), but none of them really question the basic set-up of their society.

Is this so different from the way most people given the short end of the stick act? There are some who try to take radical actions or attempt to flee, but those people are the exception, not the rule. This wasn’t a book about a great rebellion or a daring escape; it was a book about normal people in a society that we find horrific, but that (as has been pointed out) is the norm for these characters.

I have a theory on this. While reading I too found myself frustrated at the characters for just accepting their fate and waiting to die, I felt like shouting 'Why are you still there?? Run away, quick!'.

I find it difficult to express my thought, so please bear with me. The other day I was wondering why some people would get just one job and stay with it their whole life, even if they hate it. I've always found it confusing why people would do that, I've always thought I would have a few jobs, and make money from things I enjoy. Anyway I thought 'wow, some people just go through school, finish uni and then there's no more enjoying life, they seem to just wait to die.' And I was reminded of this book.

I think that Ishiguro is trying to make us think about our own lives and this 'cattle culture', how we're conditioned to do just this, have fun in youth, serve our purpose and then die.

People go skydiving, swim with sharks and do other kinds of 'life experiences' when they are told they will die soon (if they're not too old already, but why should we wait till then? Death is inevitable for everyone, and you shouldn't just sit back and wait till it's just round the corner.

Sorry if that's not very clear =P

I think it's because this is the way they grew up, they don't know any other life. They don't really understand that this is out of the ordinary.

Mikki wrote: "I think that Ishiguro is trying to make us think about our own lives and this 'cattle culture', how we're conditioned to do just this, have fun in youth, serve our purpose and then die...."

Yes - this is exactly how I saw it. A good book with a 'science fiction' premise makes us reflect on our own lives, in this case acceptance of the unreasonable because it's the norm, and we can't see beyond what we've been raised to believe. We read this and think 'why do they accept this?', but put yourself in their place and, sadly, most of us would accept it.

I am not sure why this book affected me so much but it did. I think the fact that these people were disrespected and mistreated in many ways and it was by nothing they had done. The movie was also very good and sad. They never had a proper home or parents and no one what happen to them.

I had the same impression as Mikki, but it goes a little beyond that. Yes, we can swim with sharks and do a lot of stuff, travel the world and all, go to unmarked places. But our world is still finite. Every liberty that we have can be compared to any of their trips. Ultimately, you cant escape death. I think that they don't rebel against being used in the same way we don't rebel the fact that we will die some day. It's just pointless to rebel to something that you can't escape from anyway.

In an interview, the author said that the book was about the concept of duty. Maybe the best analogy is to soldiers who put their lives on the line to fight in wars they don't understand or believe in. The big difference is that many soldiers survive to live long lives.