Sophia Naeem
Professor Walker
Engl 151W
29 April 2018

Never Let Me Go and Powers of Horror

       In the book, “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro, we learn about the childhood of a woman named Kathy H. Throughout the beginning and into most of the book, Kathy describes her recollection of memories from her life at her town of Hailsham where she was a student of a special institute, although we aren’t aware it’s a special institution in the beginning. Though her narration is very vague in the beginning when she talks about events from her childhood at this school, we are led to believe that she was very privileged to have came from such a place. We see this earlier in the book when Kathy introduces herself to the readers as a ‘carer’ and tells us a brief story about a ‘donor’ that was in her care who wished to be told stories of Hailsham by Kathy so he could imagine it like he was there and as if her memories at Hailsham were his own. As carer, Kathy was in charge of making the overall quality of life better for the donors during their donation process. The words ‘donor’ and ‘carer’ were mentioned in passing from the beginning of the book, as if they’re not important factors in the story, when in fact these were some of the most important key points to know in order to have a better understanding of the book. The story goes on a few chapters with detailed recollections of Kathy’s childhood with her friends Ruth and Tommy, until we eventually find out that these students at Hailsham’s special institute, including Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, were all clones and apart of a special new government program that explored the idea of treating clones with special care and attention. These students were created as clones in order to harvest new organs for the public to receive—thus they received the name ‘donors’. Although Kathy H was also a clone, she was not considered a donor in the beginning and instead worked as a carer because she had elected to do so, which entailed her taking care of the donors during the process of them donating their organs. However, the clones were only allowed to work as carer for only a short amount of time, as they soon were required to eventually stop work as carer and become donors themselves. The life of these clones were very short, since they all essentially died by the time they were approximately in their 30’s, as a result of multiple donations of their organs, usually dying after about 3-4 donations.

       At Hailsham, Kathy recounts her time at the school, where she spent most of her time with her friends Ruth and Tommy. Her recollection of her childhood begins after she mentions seeing Ruth when they got older and becoming her carer throughout her donation process. After she tells her account of memories from her past, which were not in chronological order and instead just retold based on what came to her head, Kathy begins to discuss more recent events following Ruth’s “completion” which was the term used for when the donors died after completing their donation process. During Kathy’s childhood, Ruth and Tommy were a romantic couple, even though Ruth always knew Kathy had feelings for Tommy. While Ruth was in Kathy’s care during her donation process, Ruth made an effort to make right by Kathy before “completing” since she felt she had always been a barrier between Kathy and Tommy, by convincing her to find Tommy since he was a donor and to enjoy whatever time they could together as a couple. As what seemed to by a last good dying deed to clean her own conscious, Ruth also informs Kathy about a rumored ability for donors to request something called a deferral, which would allow them both to defer their donations on the premise that they were in love. Unfortunately, while in pursuit of finding ex-officials of the Hailsham school to discuss the potential of being granted a deferral in order to spend some quality time with Tommy, after waiting so long to have the opportunity to be with him, Kathy and Tommy both find out the rumor was just that—a mere rumor. Tommy ends up dying after he completes his donation process and the story ends with Kathy driving away.

       In Powers of Horror, Julia Kristeva discusses abjection, which Kristeva explains as the feeling of horror you experience as a result of something that threatens you such as the feeling of looking at a corpse and knowing the inevitability of death. She explains that this feeling is what causes us trauma. In “Never Let You Go”, some of the clones lived most of their lives in curiosity about their existence and what lies beyond the gates of their school in Hailsham, as rumors were surfacing among the clones, that the teachers were keeping them safe from a terrible threat that lurked outside.

     Another reading that is similar in certain areas with “Never Let Me Go” from our class is “Frankenstein”. Just as the clones were created without any knowledge of their purpose in life, the creature from Frankenstein also had some similarities as he also searched for answers and looked for knowledge and seeked information. He longed for a partner the same way Kathy H from “Never Let Me Go” longed for Tommy, but never could be with him because of Ruth. Also, the clones and the creature from Frankenstein wished to have a parent like figure in their lives, but in both stories, the clones and the creature were shunned upon because they were different.

1. Could there be a possibility of “Never Let Me Go”, happening in the near future, where clones are used to harvest human organs for the public with the approval of the majority public?
2. Could perhaps the interpretation of the readings be biased because of an exaggeration by the narrators to describe difficult times using extreme analogies?
3. Were the clones from Hailsham in “Never Let Me Go” dying at such an early age in life because of the concept of abjection, which is explained by Julia Kristeva in Powers of Horror, where the fear of death was more traumatic to them than their actual donation process?

It all starts with the uncanny. Unheimlich, or uncanny in english, is the opposite of heimlich. This is to say that heimlich always becomes unheimlich and that the two are linked with one another. Heimlich is defined as belonging to the house, not strange, familiar, tame, intimate, comfortable, homely, etc. “Thus heimlich is a word the meaning of which develops towards ambivalence, until it finally coincides with the opposite, unheimlich.”(Pg 4)

Freud goes on to mention an author by the name of Jentsch, with whom successful uncanny writing is associated with. Jentsch believes that one of the most successful ways in which to tell a story that has the effects of the uncanny in it is to leave the readers in a state in which they are unsure of whether or not a particular character is human or automation, but to do it in a way as such that the readers attention is not brought to that and as such they can not immediately clear up their misunderstanding. Refering to “The Sand Man” in Hoffmann’s Nachtstücken which contains the original of Olympia a doll in the first act of Offenbach’s opera, The Tales of Hoffmann. Olympia is used in a way that leaves the reader uncertain. It is further disguised by the rest of what is happening in the story with the fear of the loss of eyes. As such when the character Nathaniel falls in love with Olympia, whilst betrothed to another, it attributes to the belief that Olympia is human. However with Nathaniel’s constant encounters with the Sandman, whom has several different personas, it hides the fact that Olympia is an automaton. The importance of mentioning this piece of work is that Freud then relates the fear of losing eyes, which is very prevalent in this story, to that of castration.

Freud describes the thought behind what is known as a “castration complex”. The fear of losing one’s eyes, which is typically gained during one’s childhood, can be transferred to the same action on other parts of the body. By relating the uncanny effect of Nathaniel’s dread of the Sandman to the castration complex you can see how it is Freud arrived at the idea of the uncanniness of the castration complex. It is this feeling that can be attributed to feelings of uncanniness, and we can take this and attempt to apply it to other instances of the uncanny.

Another instance that Freud uses to describe this feeling is that of seeing the same number several time during a short period of time. Doing such would give us the feeling of uncanny and tempt us to give meaning to this number, an example used by Freud an indication of the life span allocated to the individual.The feeling of uncanny can be sparked from coincidence as seen with the numbers but also through words. Freud tells us of a patient with whom upon visiting a hydropathic establishment and believing that it was the situation of his room and not the water that lead to his improvement. It is important to note that this specific room was adjourned to an amiable nurse. When upon a later visit told that the specific room was occupied he wished the man in there to have a stroke and die, which he did a fortnight later. His patient described the feeling as uncanny. Freud says that that feeling would have been even stronger had those events happened closer to one another.

Freud focuses heavily on the idea of heimlich and unheimlich. Alternatively you can experience one without the experience of the other. Simply put if you did not know anything other that the current nothing would seem to be uncanny, and yet everything would seem familiar. This idea can be supported by the character Jimmy from Oryx and Crake. There are a vast amount of changes throughout the novel and yet Jimmy does not really believe it to be strange. Partially due to the location of his upbringing, the crazy genetic modifications that occur to animals throughout the book are not something that Jimmy sees as strange, that is until he sees the ChickieNobs. This sea anemone like chicken growing organisms foster the feeling of uncanny in Jimmy not because of what they are, but because they have no heads. It is this reason that causes the appearance of uncanny within the character, which until this point had been largely non-existent. It is important to try and perceive uncanny in this way as it is not something that is reliant, there are several different way towards reaching this feeling that Freud describes, but not one of them states there needs to be a feeling of familiarity first.

In relation to Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, one encounter that can be seen as very important inspires similar feelings of uncanniness within Jimmy. Shortly after going to work at Paradice with Crake, Jimmy realizes that the girl he has fantasized over for many years is there, but she is there for Crake. Soon after however, when Oryx visits Jimmy’s room in the middle of the night, things change. Jimmy constantly has an uncanny feeling and asks questions about Oryx’s childhood and frequently worries about Crake finding out. When in this situation that by Jimmy’s ideals should be near perfect for him, he can’t help but being worried and feeling uncanny. To Jimmy, the guy who has been with countless women and quite honestly has never been attached, it is a strange feeling to be with someone whom he wasn’t just with for the physical benefit. Furthermore Oryx is both familiar to Jimmy as well as unknown. This is easy to see with Jimmy’s fixation on the childhood of Oryx. Furthermore in Jimmy as a character when it comes to his relation with Oryx he typically has the feeling of uncanny and it can also be seen in the way he communicates with Oryx.

1. Throughout Oryx and Crake there are many “technological advancements’.” Suppose you were living through the creation of these, is it something you would want to advance further for the potential of its medical purposes? Other reasons? Why?
2. You see the number 13 frequently throughout a day, how does this make you feel and are you uncomfortable?
3. Your Victor Frankenstein and you’ve just completed creature, it looks far from human. How do you feel about it and how does it relate to your view on the genetically modified organisms we see in Oryx and Crake?

Sigmund Freud “The Uncanny” was published in the 20th century. Freud’s notion draws on the origin of the german word “Unheimliche,” vs “Heimlisch” which is also refered to as “homely.” “Uncanny” is not necessarily the opposite of homely, but it is a word that has a sense of antipathy with the home. ” The uncanny” refers to something fearful and frightening, but has been neglected in the history of aesthetics. The uncanny is the subject of aesthetics and has to do with a certain kind of feeling or sensation involving emotional impulses. After a long discussion, Freud argues the notion of Hemilich “unhomely” relates to something that is actually known and comfortable. Home” is a secret place for Freud. The unhomely/ The uncanny is later revealed, and both has seperate and two complete different meanings. For example:The mannequin is something that appears to be a human figure and familiar, but it is actually just plastic and lifeless. It is a cause of dread which is the result of not knowing when you first look at it, that it is either a human being or a piece of plastic that it is. Based on the interpretation, if psychoanalysis is right, it is explained as for us humans that people could often relate to- anxiety. Anxiety in an individuals life is the uncanny which is rediscovered after repression. Freud states us humans have all went through some type of experience with “the uncanny.” It is something that triggers us back to repressed childhood and conflicts or beliefs that we overcome but suddenly receive new assertion.

The Uncanny comes into comparison with Oryx and crake chapters twelve to fifteen. It is clear that chapters 12-15 often bounces back and forth from snowman’s present to his past memories as Jimmy. Part 12 ends very violently. When the apocalypse occurred, crake slit Oryxs throat, and jimmy shooting him. Jimmy has lost the two most important people in his life in a matter of seconds at this point. The trauma that results from this moment is what haas drove his obsessive memories. Jimmy was left with the task of caring for the only beings in the planet which was the crakers. He felt that he was obligated to do this. The crakers were a metaphor for jimmy by replacing him and his mothers relationship, and therefore did not want to abandon them. Jimmy was left in a symbiotic relationship and both needed each other for survival. Later on snowman shows signs of losing himself to reality due to exhaustion, pain, and lack of nutrition that he is not getting. Snowman leads crakers to their new beach home and had to shoot a few infected people and go though abandoned objects.

The story ends with Snowman’s present, as he realizes there are people that exist. There are two males and one female, which is clearly possible for them to reproduce. Snowman contemplates what to do. One side of him remembers what Crake says, and wants to kill them because he remembered crake said he was counting on him, and the other side of him just does not want to do and wants to just walk away. The ending is left with a cliff hanger and leaves it up to the readers to figure out what he did based on his past and present experiences.

One of the examples for Freud’s was the mannequin. When we first glance at a mannequin, were not sure if it is real or fake. But if that mannequin started to move or shake our hand, we would definitely feel some type of discomfort or feel uncomfortable despite the fact that looks like a human. We would feel uncomfortable because of the simple fact that it is not human and is not suppose to move if it is plastic. Just like in Frankenstein, and oryx and crake, both stories include characters that are are not humans but have some characteristics that humans have. For example: Frankenstein is somewhat a monster, and technically not human, and just like in comparison to the crakers. They are human like creations that can speak and reason, but they are not human, just like a mannequin is not human despite of how it looks and the features that it has.

Just like the uncanny relates to something that triggers us back to repressed childhood and conflicts or beliefs that we overcome, snowman is constantly going back and forth reflecting to his childhood and past memories and his present life as well.

Discussion question:

1. What is ” The uncanny” in Oryx and Crake? What resembles it?
2. What if mannequins did start moving or walking, how would society react to this and feel? Would they accept it?
3. Do you agree that all humans relate to “The uncanny” and have experienced this somehow someway in their life?

Chapter 5 is where it is established that Snowman “also known as Jimmy ”is officially the last original Craker. Snowman has all of this power to make rules and regulations that everyone has to follow. The small children’s that lived in his village would always question why he would always talk to himself, he always got annoyed at them and he would tell them to leave him alone and if they didn’t then they would be toast. The metaphor that he used they never would understand because they do not use metaphors in their everyday life. They only interpret words as is with just one meaning to it. They lack so much creativity and art and this why Snowman has such a hard time communicating and relating to them. Jimmy loves language, art and human creativity.  He has made them perform rituals. This depicts language will be going through some type of extinction and destruction because it lack linguistic structures and lacked judgments. Snowman despised the way the Crakers lived, but he had no choice but to follow rules that he already made up.

Snowman has responsibilities as a role model because he makes rules and daily routines for the people in his village. Crakers are vegetarians and he has set a ritual for them to feed him as their daily duties. After feeding him one day he decides to draw a picture with mud to depict chaos and how he would get rid of it by making the great emptiness. The Crakers were so confused and thought he was trying to have the perception of God. After, he started to be questioned and wanted to know how was Crake born? He didn’t want to be questioned much about his statement so he tried to think of the simplest answer, which was Crake came from the sky, like thunder. He then tries to get out from the situation and tells them he is too exhausted to talk. But, his response shows some type of God like influence because he said Crake just came from the sky.

Oryx is the girl that Snowman loves and he tries to explain that it isn’t just sexual fantasies. Oryx went through a different life than Snowman and when she explains her story to him he starts to feel rage because of her past.  Oryx was sold when she was younger to her Uncle En. Her uncle had a lot of children that he was responsible for and he made them work to make him money. She understood that her mother had sold her because she loved her and didn’t want her to be lonesome. Snowman is so angered by her life and they can’t relate to each other’s life because Snowman lived a grateful life. Because she lacked love from her mother she found that her mother followed her and spoke to her to through nature. The birds whistling would be the noise of her mother comforting her as she walked through the forest. Her uncle had drove them over a border where they were check pointed and he gave them money to let them go. This depicted that her life was basically passed through service of money. Oryx brother and her were put to sell and because of his lack of physical attraction and he would always do terrible at sales. One day he heard that he would be doing prostitution runs and he ended up running away to an unknown world that he didn’t know about.  Uncle En arranges her up with men to go to hotels so he could bust into the room and scare the men who ask for sexual services. He makes it seem like he’s saving her, but he does it to frighten the men and they give all the money in their wallet. Uncle En tells her loves her and tells her he wish he could marry her, but he only says that to continue for her to be okay with this situation to make him more money. She later goes on to telling him that she would have secluded sex with Jack and he would teach her English. This infuriated Snowman so much by her acceptance of this life she lived. When she speaks to him she sees how much of a Crake he is, by the way he communicates and reacts to what she says. After he wakes up he debates on leaving Crake, but he doesn’t because he realizes he would be putting his people at risk for endangerment. As he enters back to the site, everyone is doing their day-to-day routine and the men start to urinate around their territory so no predators would come their way.

Andermatt wrote his dissertation  “Toxic Discourse” about people going through environment disasters affects us psychologically and when it attacks our personal space and where we live. In relation to Onyx and Crake, there could have been a reason like a natural disaster wiped out the original Crakers and Snowman is the only one left. As for his it affecting him emotionally it has taken a toll on him because of his loneliness and responsibility of keeping them safe. Since, Snowman feels like he has to protect everyone he feels as if he has to take care of the environment they live in. Toxic Discourse talks about us depending on nature, food, water, and shelter and only if it is endangered then we actually care.

Toxic Discourse says, “The real toxicity is established when there is a fear of the unknown. Oryx brother had run away when he heard that he would have to be a prostituted in fear of the unknown.

Questions:

1. Are we that selfish to only care when it’s us being affected?
2. Do you think you would make rule or rituals for people to serve you food the way Snowman did?
3. Why do you think the Crakers didn’t see it morally wrong for serving Snowman as a ritual?

The first four parts of Attwood’s Oryx and Crake are spent with the supposed only remaining human on the planet explaining his experiences both in the present and the past.  A plague appears to have wiped out all of humanity.  It is not clear if this plague was a result of the genetic experimentation taking place in the labs of his past.  There are other intelligent beings in the present but there is a lack of a physical description other than they are children who are naked, beautiful, and look nothing like the past version of man, Jimmy.

The idea of nature appears to have undergone drastic changes.  The animals are hybrids of multiple animals put together.  Whether they are just escapees from the labs after man’s downfall or a crossbreeding occurring in nature itself is unclear.  The weather has extreme rains and winds as well as extreme heat.  Jimmy, as a past human, is not physically built to withstand these changes and must hide but it appears this latest version of humanity, the children, are part of an adaptive evolutionary man.  They can roam naked in the sun and enjoy its extreme warmth.

The flashbacks to Jimmy’s past are a mix of descriptions of the world from a scientific view as well as experiences of a child looking to find his way in life.  Jimmy has a father who is excited about his genetic experimentation with these lab animals and his mother is a scientist who was once just like Jimmy’s father but now is disgusted with the immoral and unethical route these scientific pursuits have taken.  Jimmy describes being a mediocre student, having his first crush and playing online games with his best friend Crake.  On the surface it appears to be the normal life of a kid, but it is far from it.  It is a disturbing view of what humanity may become if the single minded scientific pursuits to further “improve” life without regard for the consequences of nature continue.  Jimmy appears to be living in a world where man has forgotten that he is not the only important being on a planet designed for his use but rather just a part of something much bigger that requires continued respect for all parts because they only work together, or they don’t survive.  Some may argue that the scientific pursuits of animal incubators for human longevity and beauty are not completely indicative of an unethical society.  It is important to remember the details of Jimmy’s experiences with Crake as two kids watching their favorite shows.  It is not your typical superhero tale but rather a gruesome scene of live animal and human torture for entertainment.  It appears as if only the pornography itself is limited to adults and even then, the idea that child pornography is so easily accessible is despicable and unforgiving.  To be human is to have empathy, feelings, thoughts and an understanding of the vastness of the universe.  This novel poses many questions regarding the effects science has on our definition of what it means to be human.

Attwood seems to have a knack for creating dystopian societies where the current day issues and fears such as inequality and immorality are brought to their extreme as a warning of what may be to come if we, as humans, do not stop and think about our actions and their consequences.

Ihab Hassan wrote an essay in play format, Prometheus as Performer: Toward a Post Humanist Culture, involving the levels of human consciousness and post humanism as it is understood and interpreted today (1976) and by the greatest minds of history across many areas of study.  It questions the definition of post humanism and if it really means a world without humans or if it just implies something else.  The idea that for each new discovery of human ability we change humanity so dramatically that these new generations should be considered post humanist generations to those that came before. The characters in the play are the various levels of our human consciousness and the struggle between them. It is metaphorical for our inner struggle of good versus evil and all levels in between.  In changing the way we interpret the same idea such as scientific pursuits and accomplishments can we justify the path used to reach the goal despite a fear of the darkness the path involves.  While the play went back and forth in many directions and quoted many different historical figures who made major advancements in science or philosophical understanding the overall themes seemed to remain the same.  What are the implications of science in our consciousness?  Does the advancement of technology hinder humanities ability to value the beauty of what once was such as the photograph replacing the art of the painted hand?  Scientific advancements change the way we see humanity!  There will always be the side that feels that we, as a species, are strong and will survive.  We will adapt and evolve so science and technology are not to be restricted.  Then there are those that argue we are a new species in a much older universe and just as other species have come and gone we will be the creators of our own extinction.

So how do the writings of Hassan tie into the readings in class.  Ironically Frankenstein was used as an example in the play where prior to his formal education and introduction to a shallow science he pursued the teachings of some of the greater minds in scientific history.  However, when shown what the newer sciences were capable of, he took his pursuits to a level that crossed the ethical boundaries between good and evil and created life where life wasn’t meant to be created.  This resulted in his downfall.  It could be interpreted that humanity in Attwood’s novel underwent the same fate.  A failure to acknowledge that science is not always used for good and the allowance of selfish and vain endeavors will result in paying the ultimate price.

Questions:

1 – As scientific and technological advances are introduced into society are they removing our ability to see we are not indestructible or had humanity already begun to lose its moral compass and the ability to make scientific advances was the result?

2 – Are we the post humanist society to ancient civilizations as a result of our scientific advancements?

3 – If we could extend our lives by 50 or 100 years by using animals as incubators would that be ethical?