Never Let Me Go

What are symbols in Never Let Me Go?

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Okay, One of the main symbols is the song, Never Let Me Go. This is obviously an important symbol, as the book is named after this song; however it is only discussed briefily, periodically in the novel. The main character of the novel, Kathy, is an adult looking back and reflecting on her time spent at Hailsham, a boarding school, and her childhood. Kathy obtains a cassette tape by Judy Bridgewater called Songs After Dark. There was really only one thing specifically which made this cassette tape so important to Kathy, “What made the tape so special for me was this one particular song: track number three, “Never Let Me Go” (70). Kathy generally only listened to this in private, and when she did she experienced certain emotions, “What I was doing was swaying about slowly in time to the song, holding an imaginary baby to my breast. In fact, to make it all the more embarassing, it was one of those times I’d grabbed a pillow to stand in for the baby, and I was doing this slow dance, my eyes closed, singing along softly each time those lines came around again, oh baby, baby, never let me go” (71). Although Kathy never knew the actual meaning to the lyrics, she misiterpreted them, and assumed it was about a mother who never wanted to give up her baby. The song was a symbol of Kathy’s unattianble desire to have a baby of her own. Clones were not allowed to have babies, it was physically impossible. Kathy’s desire to have a baby of her own could possibly be the reason she was a carer for so long.

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