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Ms. Lucy vs. Ms. Emily - Compare and Contrast Essay

The document compares and contrasts the approaches of Miss Emily and Miss Lucy towards educating clones at Hailsham. Miss Emily shields the clones from the truth of their fate, allowing them to believe they may have futures of jobs and families. Miss Lucy feels the clones have a right to know and directly tells them they will donate organs and have no other options. While upsetting the students, Miss Lucy's honesty better prepares them for their lives, though the administration does not support her approach. Ultimately, the document analyzes whether ignorance or truth is more compassionate when facing an inevitable fate.

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521 views2 pages

Ms. Lucy vs. Ms. Emily - Compare and Contrast Essay

The document compares and contrasts the approaches of Miss Emily and Miss Lucy towards educating clones at Hailsham. Miss Emily shields the clones from the truth of their fate, allowing them to believe they may have futures of jobs and families. Miss Lucy feels the clones have a right to know and directly tells them they will donate organs and have no other options. While upsetting the students, Miss Lucy's honesty better prepares them for their lives, though the administration does not support her approach. Ultimately, the document analyzes whether ignorance or truth is more compassionate when facing an inevitable fate.

Uploaded by

isabella
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Ms. Lucy vs. Ms.

Emily – Compare and Contrast Essay


Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Never Let Me Go’ touches on what it means to be human, and the ideas of
acceptance and fate. He outlines a dark picture of humanity and what happens in the lives of
clones created for organ donation. Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth are quite fortunate in that they are
very sheltered clones raised in the shielded environment of Hailsham. They have educations,
distractions, and senses of purpose. This is made possible by their guardians, Miss Emily and Miss
Lucy. Miss Emily wants to encourage their souls to develop and keep them protected, safe, and
happy until they are old enough to understand what is happening. While Miss Emily’s approach
sounds ideal, in reality, it is the most destructive option. She is allowing the students to believe in
better lives, have jobs, families when it is impossible. However, Miss Lucy feels as though the
students have a right to know what is in store for them. Although, she could have been more
sensitive with her important reveal to the students. Miss Lucy was frustrated and going against the
administration of Hailsham by speaking to the students directly about their purpose. However, she
was direct, straightforward and honest by telling them about their organ donations, lack of options,
and ultimate fate.

Miss Emily, similar to Madame, is a pro clone advocate that demands better treatment to the
clones until their completions. She is also the head guardian at Hailsham, she is a rigorous woman
and seems to have an “extra sense” of what is going around Hailsham, as mentioned by Kathy.
Despite her strict personality, Miss Emily is also the one that keeps Hailsham students safe, and
she is also well respected by the students for her fair judgments, as seen in the quote, “We
probably recognized that it was her presence, intimidating though it was, that made us all feel so
safe at Hailsham”. However, one thing that stands out with her role as head guardian is that she is
in control of the information regarding the clones’ fates (completion), yet she chooses not to share
this piece of information. This might be viewed as both a kind act, as ignorance is bliss and not
knowing which is shown in the book as Kathy H narrates a rather happy childhood. Alternatively,
this can be portrayed as a cruel act, linking back to not preparing students for the real world. She is
also non-hesitant in firing guardians that do not agree with her methods of handling these issues.

It is while overhearing two students talk about becoming actors that Miss Lucy snaps, telling all the
students gathered around her about their fate and the fact that none of their dreams will come true.
The students are fifteen years old when Miss Lucy says to them in the pavilion, “Your lives are set
out for you. You’ll become adults, then before you’re old, you’ll start to donate your vital organs.
That’s what each of you was created to do”. While they all remembered the incident, they also
allowed it to pass, become foggy, and ultimately took no action in terms of self-preservation
because of it. This is because she was forced to inform them in a hurried, under-the-table sort of
way. Had the administration allowed Miss Lucy to educate the students properly, they would have
been better prepared for the lives set out for them, and perhaps been able to change their fates.
Miss Lucy’s system would have better served the students, better prepared them for life as clones,
and left them overall happier and more well-adjusted than being in the dark. Had Miss Lucy had
some support, she could have possibly helped change the way Hailsham operated. This was a
significant threat to Miss Emily’s philosophy and approach with the clones. Ultimately, Miss Lucy
never had the chance to change the lives of the students at all, and that is the biggest tragedy of
Never Let Me Go.
Miss Lucy and Miss Emily are introduced very early on in the book, and quickly it becomes
apparent that they both care about the students, yet have very different views on how to approach
teaching them. Miss Emily thinks they should be somewhat oblivious to their fate. In contrast, Miss
Lucy feels as though the students have a right to know what is in store for them. Miss Lucy’s belief
is represented in the following passage, “When Tommy was telling me about Miss Lucy, about
how she’d said to him we weren’t being ‘taught enough’ about some things”. One can imagine how
difficult it must be to watch young children talk about their hopes when, in reality, their aspirations
are impossible. Early on, Miss Emily is portrayed as stern and strict, but respected. This is
illustrated in the following quote said by Kathy, “All the same, you felt dreadful, just knowing you’d
fallen in her estimation, and you wanted to do something straight away to redeem yourself.” In
conclusion, they both care for their students but have different ideas on how to teach them.

Paragraph 3 Rewritten:

‘Never Let Me Go’ revolves around the question of how to live a ‘decent life’ in the face of
impending death. Miss Lucy, arguably the most heroic character in the novel, suggests that it is
better to face death with full awareness of what is coming, rather than trying to ignore it. Miss Lucy
snaps, telling all the students gathered around her about their fate and the fact that none of their
dreams will come true, “Your lives are set out for you. You’ll become adults, then before you’re
old, you’ll start to donate your vital organs. That’s what each of you was created to do”. While they
all remembered the incident, they also allowed it to pass, become foggy, and ultimately took no
action in terms of self-preservation because of it. It is because of the conforming nature of the
clones, where they have subconsciously taught not to question it by Miss Emily about the donations
and instead avoid it. Miss Lucy’s outburst was a significant threat to Miss Emily’s philosophy and
approach with the clones. Ishiguro also suggests that Kathy can live decently because she has
accepted her fate as a donor and reconciled herself to it, leading one to believe that telling the truth
to the clones benefitted them more than hiding it from them. Ultimately, Miss Lucy never had the
chance to change the lives of the students at all, and that is the biggest tragedy of ‘Never Let Me
Go’.

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