Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro highlights the human tendency to create hope when forced to confront a harsh reality. In the novel, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy gradually learn of their predetermined destiny as clones to donate their organs, but they continue to hope for a better future. Romanek's film adaptation of Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go departs somewhat from the novel's depiction of the need for hope in order to accept reality, thus developing the relationship between hope and reality to a limited extent. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'? Get the original essay The film places less emphasis on symbols in the Hailsham students' childhood, weakening the role development of the hope as the clones begin to understand their reality. Romanek cuts to the pencil case incident, during which Ishiguro demonstrates Ruth's capacity for hope. The kit symbolizes Ruth's desire to establish an emotional connection through special treatment, not simply superiority among the students. In the novel, Kathy's confrontation with Ruth reverses her act of deception, essentially robbing her of her hope of forming emotional connections. However, Kathy's immediate regret at revealing the truth, as she expresses guilt on page 60 for "[upsetting her] dearest friend" who had only "lied a little", places a greater burden on her. big mistake. By softening the seriousness of the lie, Kathy illustrates Ishiguro's comment about the importance of remaining hopeful, even though both characters know that Ruth's hope is an impossibility, a gesture of forbidden favoritism. By cutting this scene, Romanek's adaptation does not effectively illustrate the role of hope in the character Ruth, who in the novel still retains hope, although less visible. The film therefore loses this facet of conveying Ishiguro's comments about maintaining hope, even in a character who tries to hide it. At Hailsham, the film partly translates the importance of hope into reality by focusing on the students' collections. As the novel's students struggle to understand the world at large, they attempt to find meaning in their collections. The collections give them meaning, allowing students to worry about facing reality. Romanek highlights the collections through a series of close-ups, demonstrating their importance to the clones as they fuel the hope of a fulfilling life before their completion. However, this symbol in the film more effectively communicates ideas relating to the dehumanization of the clones and their inferior position in society, rather than the importance of hope, as the film lacks the scene of the clones discussing their collections on page 131, in which Ruth insists to Keffers that hers is made of "really good stuff" and later wishes she had kept it. Although she attempts to get rid of her collection, Ruth recognizes the value of the objects, a view that contrasts with that of Keffers, who in this situation embodies reality. Although conflicted, reality gives way to hope, as Keffers agrees to take Ruth's collection. Ishiguro establishes the collections, with their close ties to Hailsham, as a symbol of the clones' hopeful youth. With Ruth's reflection on throwing away her collection, the importance of their hope as adults further highlights Ishiguro's comments about maintaining hope to thrive in reality. By cutting the conversation between Kathy and Ruth, the film does not developeffectively the symbol of the collections as the novel does, focusing rather on societal issues than on the need for hope. Additionally, Hailsham's trials are not present in the film. . In the novel, Kathy imagines how she would write her essay when she arrived at the Cottages. She states on page 115 that they "helped us stay afloat", amid the "mighty tides that separate us", as the essay puts it. Like a thread that connects the Hailsham students to their childhood. Kathy's daydream about her essay shows the hope she experienced during her youth and her tendency to return to that time to escape reality. The references to water further convey this attachment to childhood and its conflict with reality, as the clones cling to the trials as a representation of Hailsham that helps them survive outside the sheltered school. The statement also demonstrates the strength of their hope with the clones' ability to resist the "mighty tides" that attempt to strip them of all hope. Without this symbol connecting the clones to their childhood, the film lacks Kathy's affection for her hopeful youth as well as the eventual rejection of the task by all the clones which signifies their ultimate loss of this thread of hope. By altering the novel's narratology, the film ineffectively communicates the tape's importance to Kathy as a symbol of her life-long hope. Romanek adds to his adaptation that Tommy buys Kathy the tape at a sale. This change establishes the tape as a symbol of affection between the two characters and makes the meaning of the tape and the film as a whole more focused on the relationships between the characters, and less on the dreams that manifest from the tape and the hope it provides. . Romanek's choice to center Kathy's strip on romantic relationships detracts from Ishiguro's comments about the need for hope to flourish in reality, ultimately creating a more superficial relationship between hope and reality. In the film, Ruth is the one who sees Kathy hugging a pillow while listening. to the cassette in Madame's place. Given its importance to Tommy and Kathy's relationship, in Ruth's eyes the tape symbolizes a secret connection between the two that excludes her. By replacing Madame with Ruth, the film emphasizes Kathy and Ruth's competition for Tommy's love and hinders the character development of Madame, who sees the pillow as a representation of the kinder old world. The lesser importance of Madame in the film minimizes her continued presence in the novel which constantly reminds us of the reality of the clones. This change significantly detracts from Ishiguro's comments on hope and reality, as the calm of the novel's scene in which Kathy fantasizes about her hopes contrasts sharply with Madame's sobs, a shocking reminder of reality. Ishiguro describes on page 71 the crying that "[rips] Kathy out of [her] dream" and causes her to "[freeze] in shock." The diction of this statement highlights the brutal intrusion of reality into Kathy's fantasy. By creating this contrast, Ishiguro reflects the state of hope that each character maintains: Kathy is hopeful, not having fully understood her role in society, while Madame has already faced the harsh realities of life for clones and is consequently moved by Kathy's actions. For Kathy, the tape embodies her innocence in Hailsham, but for Madame, the tape evokes the cruelty of the world. Even as an adult, Kathy can still find happiness in her tape, even though she recognized the reality, because it symbolizes her hopeful childhood. Ishiguro proves that she still has hope and thus can cherish the small examples of hope, like the tape. With this,Ishiguro suggests that the ability to hope is a more rewarding approach to facing reality, such as Madame's lack of hope, which recognizes the darkness of reality on page 266 when she tells Tommy that her life must “follow the course that has been taken”. set'", establishing that she has lost hope and given in to society's principles, leads her to experience a certain level of grief. Romanek's film loses this conflict of reactions and therefore the commentary on the humanity of the clones and their ability to hope within strict limits as a necessary quality that contributes to the survival of the characters in reality. The film also omits Kathy's loss of the tape. In the novel, the loss of the cassette introduces another aspect of hope: the belief that lost things can be found. Kathy and Tommy cling to the memory of the tape, refusing to give up their hope of regaining the innocence of their childhood and the freedom to dream. After finding the tape in Norfolk, Kathy states on page 180: “'Judy Bridgewater. My old friend,” demonstrating his strong and lasting connection to his childhood. The recovery of the tape reminds us that not all of the missing items may be permanently lost. Kathy maintains this source of hope throughout her life, identifying the tape on page 64 as one of her "most prized possessions" that she "doesn't dare play" in her car's faulty tape recorder . Ishiguro portrays Kathy with a sense of fear of losing the tape, which suggests the importance of the hope it represents. Even after realizing the impossibility of the fantasy of Kathy's performance of the song, the tape remains a constant in her life that she clings to, proving its importance to her, not only in her naive childhood, but also to adulthood when she understands reality. . By cutting this storyline, the film loses the commentary on the need to maintain hope as a source of motivation to continue and find it easier to accept a harsh reality. Additionally, Romanek's film only somewhat develops Norfolk as a symbol, representing the possibility of continued existence, therefore not fully articulating the meaning of hope in reality expressed in Ishiguro's novel. During the trip to Norfolk, the film does not focus on Ruth's dream of working in an office and her secret hope that this fantasy will turn into reality. Romanek's adaptation weakens the development of the complexity of Ruth's character. It shows Ruth's enthusiasm more clearly, unlike the novel where Kathy notes on page 146 that Ruth had "done everything possible" to convince the veterans, whom she considered superior, that she "wasn't very serious” as to “finding it is possible. While Ishiguro's character hides her desire for the possible to be a good match, she also acts with an eagerness that allows Kathy to discern her true excitement. Rather than conveying Ruth's repressed hope, Romanek illustrates a sense of unreserved enthusiasm, which Ruth openly displays to Kathy. Because of this change, the film does not prove the importance of hope for Ruth, because in the novel, Ruth, despite her wish to appear mature in the eyes of the veterans, nevertheless retains an internal sense of hope. Even though she doesn't really believe that possible is a good match, she suspends her disbelief in favor of hope. While Kathy accepts this behavior and the other clones all encourage Ruth to pursue what she can, Ishiguro praises the ability to maintain hope to thrive in a restrictive reality. Therefore, Romanek's changes cause the film adaptation to lose this endorsement of hope, even though he knows that there is no.