"Oh yeah. Ruth was getting poeple to look for it and saying you were really upset about losing it. So I tried to find it. I never told you at the time, but I did Try really hard. I thought there'd be places I could look where you couldn't. In the Boy's dorms, stuff like that. I remember looking for ages, but I couldn't find it."(169)
This is really the first time since arriving at the cottages that Kathy and Tommy have had any extended time to just talk like they used to. I feel as though Tommy and ruth could not talk quite so openly. The fact that Tommy remembered about Kathy's lost tape all this time must mean that Tommy did have feelings for Kathy this whole time. Because, he probably wouldn't have done the same if it were Ruth's tape that was lost. Tommy must have planned that if he ever got to Norfolk, he would find Kathy's tape. However, the good time spent finding the tape with Kathy was not in his plans. But, this turned out better that he imaged. I think that along with the lost tape they also found the relationship that Ruth had stolen from them years ago, but sadly it would take a few more years to act on this rekindled flame.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Flat Characters
"And I had a kind of vision of Chrissie and Rodney back at the cottages, in the months leading up to this moment, probing this subject between them. " (154)
Chrissy and Rodney are characterized as a veteran couple who lead the cottage's trends, based on what they choose to pick up from one TV show or another. They are seldom mentioned outside of conflicts within Kathy about Ruth following their fake behavior. An occasion where they are important outside of these criteria is when they try to convince the Hailsham students to tell them more about this deferral program. They could have known all along that this possible was not Ruth's model, but just that, a possible match. They might have planned to be so that this business woman would be close enough to through suspicion off of the fact that the whole trip was basically an ambush. This singularly minded ploy did not get them far, however, because the Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy truthfully had no information to add. Even though Ruth may have misled them, they obviously never found Madame because at the end because we find out that they were split up after all, and tragically, Chrissie completed on her second donation. Obviously they never changed, and they never really loved each other because, Rodney was not even upset.
Chrissy and Rodney are characterized as a veteran couple who lead the cottage's trends, based on what they choose to pick up from one TV show or another. They are seldom mentioned outside of conflicts within Kathy about Ruth following their fake behavior. An occasion where they are important outside of these criteria is when they try to convince the Hailsham students to tell them more about this deferral program. They could have known all along that this possible was not Ruth's model, but just that, a possible match. They might have planned to be so that this business woman would be close enough to through suspicion off of the fact that the whole trip was basically an ambush. This singularly minded ploy did not get them far, however, because the Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy truthfully had no information to add. Even though Ruth may have misled them, they obviously never found Madame because at the end because we find out that they were split up after all, and tragically, Chrissie completed on her second donation. Obviously they never changed, and they never really loved each other because, Rodney was not even upset.
Internal Conflict
"In fact, I hardly saw thier contorted bodies because I was focusing on the faces. " (134)
Kathy never mentions looking for her model. Even while she flipped through the pages of that magazine she could not really tell why she was doing it, she herself hadn't fully developed this idea yet. And over the course of the story she never admits to looking for her model. This goes along with the idea of her not fully understanding herself before she became a carer. Also, this is an idea that never really receives much thought after Tommy confronts her about it, and they go on to hunt for the tape. Well, its only natural to want to know who she was modeled after, to know what their life is like. I wonder what would happen if Ruth did actually did find her model. Obviously, it could not have played out the way Ruth imagined. So, what if Ruth were to go and talk to her? I guess that this detail was left out because most possibilities end in some body taking charge of the situation. Maybe they would relocate her, and take away driving privileges, so she could not try to go back. This is just one possibility, and I am sure that it best that the character only dream of their models, proving once again that they have souls. With out souls, they would not care where they camme from.
Kathy never mentions looking for her model. Even while she flipped through the pages of that magazine she could not really tell why she was doing it, she herself hadn't fully developed this idea yet. And over the course of the story she never admits to looking for her model. This goes along with the idea of her not fully understanding herself before she became a carer. Also, this is an idea that never really receives much thought after Tommy confronts her about it, and they go on to hunt for the tape. Well, its only natural to want to know who she was modeled after, to know what their life is like. I wonder what would happen if Ruth did actually did find her model. Obviously, it could not have played out the way Ruth imagined. So, what if Ruth were to go and talk to her? I guess that this detail was left out because most possibilities end in some body taking charge of the situation. Maybe they would relocate her, and take away driving privileges, so she could not try to go back. This is just one possibility, and I am sure that it best that the character only dream of their models, proving once again that they have souls. With out souls, they would not care where they camme from.
Flash Back
"Sometimes I'll be driving on a long waving road across marshland, or maybe past rows of furrowed field, the sky big and gray and never changing mile after mile, and I find I'm thinking about my essay..." (115)
This whole story is Kathy getting ready to stop caring and become a donor. Because of this, she reflects on fer life thus far while driving around from hospital to hospital. I think that there is a part of her that wants to become a donor, like Tommy suggested. However she is still proud that she is a good carer. And, she is more in control. She doesn't have to take orders from Ruth anymore. She doesn't have to follow Ruth's commands or become angered at some ploy Ruth used to get attention. Looking back still makes her sad for her lost friend though, and all the others in her life, most of which have completed.
This whole story is Kathy getting ready to stop caring and become a donor. Because of this, she reflects on fer life thus far while driving around from hospital to hospital. I think that there is a part of her that wants to become a donor, like Tommy suggested. However she is still proud that she is a good carer. And, she is more in control. She doesn't have to take orders from Ruth anymore. She doesn't have to follow Ruth's commands or become angered at some ploy Ruth used to get attention. Looking back still makes her sad for her lost friend though, and all the others in her life, most of which have completed.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Couples
"After all, I'd been Tommy'd friend for years until all this couple stuff had come up. It was perfectly possible that to someone on the out side, I'd look like Ruth's 'natural sucessor'." (100)
I can't understand why Kathy could give Tommy away so easily. She obviously liked him more that Ruth. Of corse she was not in love with him at this time. But, she must have felt something. And, she just passively stood their while Ruth stole him. After all, they had been friends long before couples were formed. Maybe Kathy really did just see him as a friend. But, I don't think this is true, because of how their love grew so fast at the end, when Ruth gave them permission, only when she wasn't around to see it. When Tommy and Ruth split up, Kathy was even the reason they got back together! And, I think she was a bigger reason than she thought. Maybe Tommy would never have gone back to Ruth if Kathy would have stated her true feelings. Tommy probably thought that Kathy was not interested. If Kathy only spoke up, they would not need the three years deferral, they could have had thirty together before their inevitable completion.
I can't understand why Kathy could give Tommy away so easily. She obviously liked him more that Ruth. Of corse she was not in love with him at this time. But, she must have felt something. And, she just passively stood their while Ruth stole him. After all, they had been friends long before couples were formed. Maybe Kathy really did just see him as a friend. But, I don't think this is true, because of how their love grew so fast at the end, when Ruth gave them permission, only when she wasn't around to see it. When Tommy and Ruth split up, Kathy was even the reason they got back together! And, I think she was a bigger reason than she thought. Maybe Tommy would never have gone back to Ruth if Kathy would have stated her true feelings. Tommy probably thought that Kathy was not interested. If Kathy only spoke up, they would not need the three years deferral, they could have had thirty together before their inevitable completion.
Uncomfortable Subject
"By that time in our lives, we no longer shrank away from the subject of donations as we'd have done a year or two earlier; but neither did we think about it very seriously, or discuss it. All that business about "unzipping", that was typical of the way the whole subject impinged on us when we were thirteen. "(89)
So, they knew that donations meant that they would need to give up a body part. When this information was divulged to them is unknown. But, for years, the students opted not to talk about it. This is because they probably did not want think about it to much. This of course is understandable because, not only did they not know all of the details, but this information that they were given was dangerous. Nobody wants to talk about their imitate death. So, as they got older, it became safer to make a joke of it. This joke made the donations feel less threatening. And, this must have worked, because out of all of the people Kathy comes across in the corse of this story, even at the bed side of some of her best friends, donation were taken lighter than they should. This is why they are not wholly informed of this deathly process during their youth, to save their innocents that much longer.
So, they knew that donations meant that they would need to give up a body part. When this information was divulged to them is unknown. But, for years, the students opted not to talk about it. This is because they probably did not want think about it to much. This of course is understandable because, not only did they not know all of the details, but this information that they were given was dangerous. Nobody wants to talk about their imitate death. So, as they got older, it became safer to make a joke of it. This joke made the donations feel less threatening. And, this must have worked, because out of all of the people Kathy comes across in the corse of this story, even at the bed side of some of her best friends, donation were taken lighter than they should. This is why they are not wholly informed of this deathly process during their youth, to save their innocents that much longer.
Protaganist
"In my memory my life at Hailsham falls into two distinct chunks: the ones I've just been telling you about---they tend to blur into each other as a kind of golden time, and when I think about them all, even the not so great things, I can't help feeling a sort of glow. "(77)
Kathy recounts her story with an understanding that she did not have in her youth. She knows more about herself and the donation process than most donors and she suffered the loss of the relationships that helped her find these answers. So, even when she tells of a happy memory, like "the golden time", there is always something behind it. Some sadness because, she is telling this story with all of her somber memories entangled with the joyful times. So, she changes over her thirty years from a nieve young girl, who gave Tommy to Ruth with encouragement, to an old woman, in donor years, who is alone with her memories most of the time reminiscing with her completed friends. Thats why I think many carers that Kathy comes across are so depressed. Most of their friends have completed, and all that the carers are left with is time spent remembering the past, and caring for those that will complete shortly. It's no wonder that most are in waiting for their own completion.
Kathy recounts her story with an understanding that she did not have in her youth. She knows more about herself and the donation process than most donors and she suffered the loss of the relationships that helped her find these answers. So, even when she tells of a happy memory, like "the golden time", there is always something behind it. Some sadness because, she is telling this story with all of her somber memories entangled with the joyful times. So, she changes over her thirty years from a nieve young girl, who gave Tommy to Ruth with encouragement, to an old woman, in donor years, who is alone with her memories most of the time reminiscing with her completed friends. Thats why I think many carers that Kathy comes across are so depressed. Most of their friends have completed, and all that the carers are left with is time spent remembering the past, and caring for those that will complete shortly. It's no wonder that most are in waiting for their own completion.
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