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I had heard this was a science fiction story so when I started reading it I was sort of surprised. The subtle matter-of-fact style of prose works perfectly to reinforce the eerie and awkward themes. Those themes being explored are the problems with bringing into the world life simply to be consumed by the more powerful group. This is exactly what we do with non-human animals we use for food. We bring them into the world for the sole purpose of being destroyed. There are also clear parallels in the euphemisms we use for farmed animals (meat=flesh, veal=calf, pork=pig) and the those used by characters in the novel like "donation" for the removal of one's organs as if it were the donors choice. There is talk in the story of a welfare reform movement for better conditions for the clones. Does this not exactly mirror the real life farmed animal welfare movement headed by such groups as Peta and the HSUS?
Am I the only one seeing this parallel?
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Andrew Bifulco has commented on (1) product.
Never Let Me Go: A Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro
Andrew Bifulco, March 5, 2011
I had heard this was a science fiction story so when I started reading it I was sort of surprised. The subtle matter-of-fact style of prose works perfectly to reinforce the eerie and awkward themes. Those themes being explored are the problems with bringing into the world life simply to be consumed by the more powerful group. This is exactly what we do with non-human animals we use for food. We bring them into the world for the sole purpose of being destroyed. There are also clear parallels in the euphemisms we use for farmed animals (meat=flesh, veal=calf, pork=pig) and the those used by characters in the novel like "donation" for the removal of one's organs as if it were the donors choice. There is talk in the story of a welfare reform movement for better conditions for the clones. Does this not exactly mirror the real life farmed animal welfare movement headed by such groups as Peta and the HSUS?Am I the only one seeing this parallel?
(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)