Never Let Me Go Chapter 3 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
(Chapter.Paragraph)
"She said we weren't being taught enough, something like that."
"Taught enough? You mean she thinks we should be studying even harder than we are?"
"No, I don't think she meant that. What she was talking about was, you know, about us. What's going to happen to us one day. Donations and all that."
"But we have been taught about all that," I said. "I wonder what she meant. Does she think there are things we haven't been told yet?" (3.28-31)
This is the first we hear about Miss Lucy's desire to tell the students the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Tommy and Kathy think they've already learned everything there is to know about their futures. But notice Tommy's ambiguous language when he says "Donations and all that." What does "all that" refer to? Or does Tommy not know yet?
Quote 2
So you're waiting, even if you don't quite know it, waiting for the moment when you realize that you really are different to them; that there are people out there, like Madame, who don't hate you or wish you any harm, but who nevertheless shudder at the very thought of you—of how you were brought into this world and why—and who dread the idea of your hand brushing against theirs. The first time you glimpse yourself through the eyes of a person like that, it's a cold moment. It's like walking past a mirror you've walked past every day of your life, and suddenly it shows you something else, something troubling and strange. (3.73)
Kathy doesn't like seeing herself through Madame's eyes. It's no fun to realize that other people are disgusted by you. Plus, realizing what Madame thinks of her seems to change the way Kathy thinks about herself.
If Tommy had genuinely tried, she was saying, but he just couldn't be very creative, then that was quite all right, he wasn't to worry about it. (3.14)
At Hailsham, Tommy has trouble getting into a creative groove. The poor guy feels like everyone blames him for his lack of artistic talent. But at least he has one guardian, Miss Lucy, in his corner.
Quote 4
The gallery Tommy and I were discussing was something we'd all of us grown up with. Everyone talked about it as though it existed, though in truth none of us knew for sure that it did. I'm sure I was pretty typical in not being able to remember how or when I'd first heard about it. Certainly, it hadn't been from the guardians: they never mentioned the Gallery, and there was an unspoken rule that we should never even raise the subject in their presence. (3.51)
Is it just us, or does Kathy have trouble remembering when she learned anything at this so-called school? This moment has us thinking about how Kathy doesn't remember when she first learned about donations. For some reason, Kathy's selective memory loss kicks in on both occasions.