Theme

One of the most predominant themes in this novel, as we mentioned last class, is the power of memory. Kathy uses her memories to cope with the losses she as had in her life, Ruth, Tommy and Hailsham. The novel depicts the strong sense of holding on that people have when they lose a loved one. This is especially relevant in the title, Never Let Me Go, which seems to be both a demand and a plea from those lost in the novel. Kathy remembers her losses through her somewhat fragmented memory, as she tries to deal with and understand the aftermath of these losses. Never Let Me Go, highlights the good and bad of memories through Kathy’s narration, emphasizing how they help us hold on to those we have lost. This ties in with our overall theme of haunting because Kathy is so affected by her past and memories that it is keeping her from moving forward in her life.

Quote

“There have been times over the years when I’ve tried to leave Hailsham behind, when I’ve told myself I shouldn’t look back so much. But then there came a point when I just stopped resisting. It had to do with this particular donor I had once, in my third year as a carer; it was his reaction when I mentioned I was from Hailsham.” (Chapter 1)

This quote occurs as Kathy is introducing herself in the first chapter. This quote encompasses her inability to stop looking back at the past, even though she is actively trying not to dwell on it for a while, it just becomes too hard for her to resist. Also it establishes this centrality that Hailsham has to Kathy, all of her important relationships have come out of this one place and whether she wants to be or not, she is connected to it. These ideas lend to a theme of haunting, the school and past are haunting Kathy throughout the novel. She focuses all of her past recollections on Hailsham and many of her happiest memories happened there. She also continually finds donors that went to Hailsham or know of it. This focus on the past keeps her in her own haunting memories and also leads her to never focus on the future itself. This quote is the basis for how Kathy will continue throughout the novel , as she tries to move forward but can’t seem to let go of her past.

Theme

One of the pervading themes of the novel  is the ideas of guilt and innocence. Grace is the most obvious example of this theme, as the whole novel surrounds her story of what really happened the night of the murders. Grace tells her side of the story, in which she is innocent, while others have very different versions of what happened. Also a lot of the people in the novel believe in Grace’s innocence because of the gentle woman she portrays as she interacts with Dr. Jordan and the people of higher class around the manner. Though she was convicted, people were still left questioning her real guilt because of the persona she gave off. However, guilt and innocence plays a part in other characters lives as well, like Dr. Jordan and whether is actions with Mrs. Humphrey are morally right, or even his fantasies about Grace. Though is trials are more personal and less public it is still a demonstration of the contrast between guilt and innocence.

“yet such is his perversity that he would rather be in London or Paris. There he would be anony­mous, and would have no responsibilities. No ties, no connections. He would be able to lose himself completely” (366). (Chapter 11).

This is when he takes his excursion to Toronto and demonstrates how he has moved from fantasies to wishing he could almost lose himself completely. Can be tied back to how Grace recounting her own past is bringing up memories of his own. Trying to detach himself from Grace and her story as he is becoming more and more immersed in it. He is beginning to see Grace as just his and becoming possessive of her and her story, he doesn’t Dr. DuPont to even try to hypnotize her.

“He wakes, or dreams he wakes. He knows he must still be asleep, because Grace Marks is bending over him in the close darkness, her loosened hair brushing his face. He isn’t surprised, nor does he ask how she has managed to come here from her prison cell. He pulls her down – she is wearing only a nightdress – and falls on top of her, and shoves himself into her with a groan of lust and no manners, for in dreams everything is permitted. His spine jerks him like a hooked fish, then releases him. He gasps for air.

Only then does he realize he’s not dreaming; or not dreaming the woman. She’s really here, in the flesh, lying motionless beside him in the suddenly too-quiet bed, arms at her sides like an effigy; but she is not Grace Marks.” (Ch. 11, 360ish)

This demonstrates  how Grace has begun to pervade his life. Grace’s influence on Dr. Jordan has steadily increased and this is showing some of its culmination. Several times Dr. Jordan has turned down Mrs. Humphrey but in this moment as he believes she is Grace, he gives in to his desires. 

Quote

“‘I am at a crucial point”, says Simon. He does not wish to appear rude, but he does not want this man interfering. Grace is his territory; he must repel poachers. ‘It might upset her, and undo weeks of careful preparations.'” (301)

This quote happens as Simon is talking to Dr. Dupont, who wants to hypnotize Grace for research purposes. It demonstrates how Simon has become attached to Grace, and now views her as his own. He is very possessive and does not want her being studying by others, because she is his. He sees her as both a discovery and a person. He has grown attached to her story and persona, but also he still wants to be the one to take credit for any discovery that comes out of her about the murder or why she did it. It shows how controversial and complicated their relationship is becoming as Simon gets more and more involved and Grace caters to his ideas and plays her part.

Theme

The question of the reliability of memory seems to be a common theme throughout the first part of this novel. Grace is asked to remember how she came to murder her master one day and as she weaves this tale some of her claims are definitely questionable. Also there is someone who claims to have helped her commit the crime and says that she is the person who forced him to do it. Grace says she does not remember having done any of this, but that if she had it was probably James McDermott who had put her up to it and not the other way around. She remembers him as an ill tempered man, but he stays true to the idea that she tempted him into doing it by promising him things. This idea that Grace does not remember these things happening causes the audience to question who is really telling the truth. The straightforward way in which Grace recounts everything makes the audience want to believe her , but there are also many facts that don’t line up in her story and her memory of certain events seems to be very spotty. 

Quote

“I told you the truth,” I say yet again, “Memory’s truth, because memory has its own special kind. It selects, eliminates, alters, exaggerates, minimizes, glorifies, and vilifies also; but in the end it creates its own reality, its heterogeneous but usually coherent versions of events; and no sane human being ever trusts someone else’s version more than his own.”

This quote exemplifies what we discussed last time in class about how truth is relative and how a person’s memories are their own individual truths. This is in the section “At the Pioneer Cafe”, as Saleem anxiously explains his narrative to Padma. Saleem is aware of his historical inconsistencies and even addresses them, but he knows his story sounds far-fetched to someone as pragmatic as Padma. What Saleem is trying to get across is that everything that he is saying is true, maybe not necessarily because it happened that way, but because it is the way he remembers it. This rearranging of history allows for his story to have a depth and meaning to him that it wouldn’t have originally and it allows him to carve his own path for his narrative and tell his truths and their effects on his life.

Theme

One of the main themes I’ve noticed thus far in Midnight’s Children would be the unreliability of memory and of narratives. Throughout the novel, Saleem acknowledges that he remembers things wrong or presents factual errors, like an election date. He is honest about his errors and uses them to progress the story and one of the overall ideas he is trying to get across in the novel, that truth is a matter of different perspectives and not just facts. One person’s truth could be different than another person’s and I believe that is what Saleem is trying to prove as he tells his story. Saleem even notices that memory creates its own truth, and that anything can be anyone’s truth as long as they believe in it.

One of the first similarities I noticed between the two stories was that they were both set in a time of war. The Demon Lover being during World War I and The Happy Autumn Fields in World War II. Setting these stories during a war already brings them a haunting quality because of the tragedy and death that often surrounds it. Also the stories surround the main character remembering someone and forming a connection to them. Kathleen to the soldier she had promised to marry and Mary to Sarah. These connections are coming back to haunt them in memory or story (or maybe dream) form and it seems as if the characters cannot escape. Both stories it is unclear what is real and what is just in the heads of the main characters.

Theme

One of the main underlying themes of A Passage to India is the idea of the unity between all things. While the majority of the characters in the novel are Christian or Muslim, there are a lot of underlying themes of Hinduism as well. In Hinduism there is an idea that all living things are united in love as one. The characters throughout the novel are attracted to nature and all other living creatures. Then the idea that these characters are forging friendships with each other despite their differences could also lend to the thoughts that they all want to be united as one in the world. Forester uses Professor Godbole as his way of expressing these ideas of Hinduism in the novel, even though he stays away from most of the drama of the plot.