Theme of Identity in Never Let Me Go Analysis Essay Example

Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go, highlights the life of Ruth, and how she is constantly trying to find her own identity throughout her time at Halisham and at the cottages. The novel mentions multiple times about how Ruth is always searching for her identity at Halisham and at the Cottages. This identity that Ruth is searching for is based on Halisham values. These changes in identity lead to the overt message that people will pretend to be people they are not based on the conditions happening around them to try and fit in and be respected by their peers. However, while pretending to be someone they are not it can damage current friendships. One way the novel explores the searching for one’s identity is when Ruth changes her behavior with Tommy at the cottages to fit in the veterans so they will like her and accept her. 

Multiple times in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro creates scenes where the main characters will pretend to be someone else to fit in with those around them to be liked. One such scene of this is in chapter ten of the novel. In this scene Kathy is tells the reader how when the three main characters arrived at the Cottages, Ruth was being extra with Tommy in public. Kathy talks about how “she (Ruth) made a big deal of it, always putting her arm around Tommy, sometimes snogging him in the corner of the room while people were still about” (Ishiguro 120). The “it” that Kathy is talking about is the Veterans at the Cottages believing that Ruth and Tommy had been together a lot longer than they were. This is the first instant when Ruth tries to fit in and change her identity and her actions based on the Veterans. In the earlier chapters of the book Kathy never describes Tommy or Ruth “snogging”. This means Kathy does not remember ever seeing Ruth or Tommy kissing at Halisham but now at the Cottages Ruth is making it clear that they are in a loving relationship. The reason why Ruth started “snogging” Tommy while everyone was still around because she thought that was what was acceptable and would make her more friends at the Cottages. Everyone has had one friend or another who changes their actions to try and fit in with this new crowd. This friend is often called fake and that is exactly what Ruth was with Tommy. Ruth went from just being in a relationship with Tommy to going out of her way to show to everyone that she is in a relationship. This description of Ruth and Tommy demonstrates how Ruth is searching for her own identity and she believes that by changing how she has always acted will allow her identity to change so she can fit in at the Cottages. This is an unfortunate reality for Ruth because she has loving friends in Kathy and Tommy, but she is willing to alienate them and make them feel uncomfortable just to try and get with the Veterans. Just two paragraphs later Kathy again shows how Ruth pretends to be someone else when she realizes what she is doing is “childish”.

The switch Ruth makes in her actions with Tommy is a prime example of how Ruth changes her personality to try and fit in with others in hope of finding her identity. Kathy compares the change of how Ruth leaves Tommy’s company a little while after they got to the Cottages compared to when they first got there. “There was this on gesture Ruth picked up from the Veterans… you slapped your partners arm near the elbow, lightly with the back of your knuckles… Ruth was soon doing it to Tommy” (Ishiguro 121). As Kathy is describing this new habit Ruth picked up from the Veterans makes it very clear that Ruth is just trying to fit in. The very first line shows how Kathy has observed other Veterans were doing the action and since Ruth was always trying to fit in it was no surprise that Ruth picked up on the same habit. This change that occurred in just two paragraphs provides a prime example of Ruth changing her personality through her actions with Tommy to fit in with the Veterans. The difference in these two scenarios highlights who Ruth is. This new habit highlights how Ruth is always vying for people’s acceptance and will change everything about herself so she can fit in and feel loved. Ruth’s need for being loved most likely stems from the lack of empathy that was given to her while she was Halisham. Now that she is at the Cottages, she still wants to be loved and accepted and the only way she knows how to feel accepted and loved is to change herself to be like everyone else around her. By changing her personality to fit in Ruth does not realize that she is harming the relationships she already had with Tommy and Kathy.

Through this constant changing of her personality Ruth was pushing away her two closest friends Kathy and Tommy. Throughout this whole description of Kathy describing how Ruth changes how she acts to draw attention and fit in, Kathy’s tone remains the same. The tone that Kathy utilizes in this passage is very critical of how Ruth is acting. Kathy uses lines such as “The Veterans, who of course knew nothing of the history of Tommy and Ruth Relationship” (Ishiguro 120) and “Anyway, my point is, it was not long before Ruth realized she had been carrying on with Tommy was all wrong for the cottages” (Ishiguro 121). Through using the words “or course” and “anyway” it shows how exhausted Kathy is with Ruth’s actions. Kathy has grown weary of the constant fakeness of her best friend and even looking back at her memory she was sick and tired of what Ruth was doing. This greatly damaged Ruth and Kathy’s relationship and ultimately led to them no longer being friends. As for Tommy, it was not as noticed but Ruth slowly pushed Tommy away as well. Ruth expected Tommy to pick up on this new act of affection faster than he did. This caused Ruth to become very frustrated with Tommy and would “have to glare furiously at him, like they were in a play, and he had forgotten his lines” (Ishiguro 121-122). This quote shows how poorly Ruth treats Tommy. Instead of Ruth trying to explain what she is doing and why she just expects Tommy to understand. Throughout the book Kathy describes how Tommy was always a little slower than other kids. Ruth should have known this since she grew up with him. By Ruth treating him like this is caused Tommy to not trust her and ultimately led to Tommy confiding in Kathy and causing Tommy and Ruth to break up. These two examples show how by changing her personality and being fake caused Ruth’s friendship with Kathy and Tommy to weaken.

The novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro highlights the struggle on trying to find one’s identity and the different ways people will change their personality to try and fit. However, when trying to change one’s personality it can push away the friendships you already have and can leave one feeling lonelier than ever before. Ishiguro highlights this theme through the three main characters in this book. One scene that highlights this theme is when Ruth constantly changed her personality and her actions to fit in with the Veterans at the Cottages. Kathy describes how both her and Tommy were hurt by how Ruth was acting. This caused their relationship to fray and ultimately end their friendship together. This scene is used by Ishiguro to show the importance of being true to oneself and finding one’s identity.