Herrera 1

Say No to Clones
Advancements in science and technology are rapidly changing our world. From providing
better medical care to the practice of cloning, science and technology have no doubt had major
impacts on society. But what would happen if science took something like cloning to a whole
other level? For example, Kazuo Ishiguro in his novel Never Let Me Go depicts a dystopian
England where human clones are used for organ donations. These clones are kept at a boarding
school called Hailsham, and when these clones come to a certain point in their lives, they donate
their vital organs and die at a young age. Although Ishiguro presents issues about human cloning
in a subtle way, there is no doubt that there is a warning hidden between the lines for
contemporary society. Whether the progression of the science of human cloning is good or bad is
what the novel raises questions about. By presenting the audience with this dystopian society,
the novel Never Let Me Go portrays a world that will fear clones and as a result, will only cause
humans to mistreat them if advancements of cloning were to progress further.
There are many places throughout the novel that bring up why the cloning of humans would
lead the world to a dystopian society. The possibility of having children with enhanced
characteristicsbut a generation of created children whod take their place in societythat
frightened people (Ishiguro 264). This quote explains why human cloning would be a problem
because people would only end up being afraid of the human clones because they would think
that the clones would become much more superior to them and take their place in society as
Ishiguro states. Humans are too proud to give up their place in society to something that is
lesser than them. If human cloning was to take place in the future, humans will not be able to
accept clones into their world and will shun them just like what is portrayed by the human beings
in the novel. For example, in the novel when two of the main characters visit Miss Emily, one of
Herrera 2

the head guardians at Hailsham, she admits that everyone that was not a clone was repulsed by
them. Were all afraid of youId look down at you all with such revulsion (Ishiguro 269).
Humans would not be able to accept these human clones into society because they are different
and not normal. That is why the clones in the novel are kept in facilities far away from the
humans so there will not be any contact whatsoever. This shows that humans will fear clones in
the future because they will be different and not normal.
Since humans would be afraid of the clones, they would not allow the clones to have the
same rights as them because in the humans eyes the clones are not human at all. In the novel,
the characters the audience are introduced to live at Hailsham where they are treated as normal
children would be treated. They attend classes so they could become well educated and
Hailsham makes sure that they are in good health. However, not all of the facilities are like
Hailsham. The rest of the facilities that other clones are kept in are government homes
(Ishiguro 265). Miss Emily tells Kathy and Tommy that the conditions at Hailsham are better
than any other facilities. All around the country there are students being reared in deplorable
conditions (Ishiguro 265). This implies that the other facilities treat the clones in unfair ways
and they live under poor conditions only to be treated as science experiments. Hailsham is
overall supposed to be a symbol of hope for not only the clones that lived there, but for clones all
over the world. It is supposed to be a place where clones can have a taste of what it is like to be
real humans and not clones. The report from the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs of the
American Medical Association argues that the fact that a human clones nuclear genes would
derive from a single individual rather than two parents does not change its moral standing. This
standard should be applied to every supposed use of clones. Since clones would already have
the same genes as a regular human, they should be treated like a human and have the same rights
Herrera 3

as one. However, the humans in the novel do not want the clones to have their own rights. They
just want the clones for the organs and nothing more.
There have been many instances throughout history that have involved cloning that happened
around the time the book was published and also surround the time in which this dystopian world
is set in. According to Gabriele Griffin, the writer of Science and the Cultural Imaginary: The
Case of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, the novel was released in the early 2000s when
cloning, and other biotechnological developments and debateswere high on the public
agenda. This explains how current society issues relate to the problem of cloning that is
discussed in the novel. Human reproductive cloning was both possible and permissible in the
UK at the time the novel was written (Griffin). The cloning that was utilized in the UK at this
time was only for therapeutic purposes to produce stem cells that could provide tissues to
replace damaged organs (Griffin). The novel takes place in a dystopian England in the late
1990s, so it makes sense that Ishiguro would use this time period and location for this novel to
take place because of the technological advances that occurred at this time.
Although human cloning may lead to a dystopian society, some people believe that cloning
can still provide medical benefits. Jonathan Colver, a freelance writer, has cystic fibrosis and
states in his article A Personal Defense of Human Cloning that he would want to be cloned so
that the genetic defect can be fixed and he can get his life back. This shows that human cloning
can be useful for medical purposes because it can be allowed to cure disease like cystic fibrosis
so people would not have to live with the burden of living with a disease. However, according to
a report written by the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs of the American Medical
Association, human cloning would not be a solution to terminal illness or mortality. Basically
cloning will not bring back the life someone might have lost due to a medical condition or if
Herrera 4

someone lost a child and wishes to have a clone of that child just because the family cannot
accept the death of the loved one.
The novel also comments on how selfish humans would become if human cloning was to
become possible in the near future. Human beings would not care about what happens to the
clones just as long as they get the organs that they need even if they feel just a bit sympathetic
toward the clones. How can you ask a world that has come to regard cancer as curable to go
back to the dark days? However uncomfortable people were about your existence, their
overwhelming concern was that their children, their spousesdid not die from cancer, motor
neurone disease, heart disease (Ishiguro 263). Although these might not seem like selfish
reasons, they actually are because these reasons show that human beings would not care that the
clones die or not just as long as the humans get what they want. The clones are exactly like
humans and that is why there is such controversy about this issue in the novel. It is proven in the
novel that they do in fact have souls, so therefore they are human. If this would be the case in
the future, human beings would be allowing the clones to die just so they could live and therefore
would be only thinking about themselves and not the lives of the clones.
Kazuo Ishiguro conveys a dystopian society where human cloning is the norm, but this
reflects on the issues that are current society faces. Throughout the novel, Ishiguro presents the
audience with sudden hints as to how our society would be as a result of human cloning.
Although human cloning may be seen as good due to the possible medical benefits it can provide
society, there is still no telling what horrible consequences it can have on the world.



Herrera 5



















Herrera 6

Works Cited
Colvin, Jonathan. "A Personal Defense of Human Cloning." Cloning. Ed. Bruno Leone.
San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. W

Griffin, Gabriele. "Science And The Cultural Imaginary: The Case Of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never
Let Me Go." Textual Practice 23.4 (2009): 645-663. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5
Mar. 2014.
The Ethics of Human Cloning. Rep. American Medical Association, June 1999. Web. 02 Mar.
2014. <http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/ethics/ceja_2a99.pdf>.