Hailsham: a Failed Experiment

I really enjoyed Never Let Me Go simply because as far as I could tell the plot was not directly inspired by something else. It seemed original and, like many of the other novels we have read, layered in a way that allows for it to be read by a variety of audiences that differ in age and maturity. The novel was fairly easy to read and if you just wanted an entertaining novel to read it would be fine. However, the deeper one reads into this novel the more clearly it falls into a dystopian genre rather than simply science fiction.

Throughout the entire novel I kept feeling an uncomfortable sort of squeamish feeling. Not quite disgust, but something related. After I had finished the book and thought it over, I realized what it was I was feeling towards Kathy, Ruth, Tommy and the entire Hailsham “experiment:” I was horrified. It wasn’t the fact that these children were clones or that they were created and cultured to give their organs up, it was the fact that even with this knowledge, they accepted their fate and felt no need to deny it, let alone fight it.

The purpose of the Hailsham experiment was to determine if clones had souls. They thought the way to do this was to determine if their artistic abilities provided any glimpse into the soul. However, is it really artistic talent or any sort of ability at all that proves the existence of a soul? I think what is important in proving if something has a soul, what shows the difference between sentient beings and nonsentient beings is their desire to live. Humans, dogs, and rabbits alike will struggle to survive even in the face of sure death. However, if you hold a laptop or a rock over a cliff’s edge, it won’t beg for its life. Even Siri on your iPhone won’t ask for a second chance. The fact that the Hailsham students were outright told that they were going to undergo a series of painful surgeries until their body gave out, none of them tried to escape that fate. None of them thought about running away or fighting against whatever government officials had allowed their existence to be for one purpose.

In class when I brought up this idea I was reminded about the slave children in Kindred. They were brought up being informed about what their purpose in life was, so they were ok with it. But that isn’t true. When they were children, yes they played slave trade games and behaved as though it were normal that they were treated as less than human. But as adults, every slave resented their position in life. Every slave knew that they were people and as soon as they were given a real chance to escape, they did their best to do so. But Kathy, Ruth and Tommy accepted it. They became carers and then doners. Not once even questioning the authority that told them what to do. It is that reason that horrified me while reading. That these creatures who look and talk like people could be so careless about their lives. So yes, the Hailsham experiment did fail because there is no possible way the clone children in Never Let Me Go have souls as they obviously did not think to preserve them.