The humanity of inaction: a comparison of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never let me go with Michael Bay's The island

Abstract

One of the most common reader responses to Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go has been to question the passivity of the clones, claiming that this inaction reveals a lack of humanity in characters who are otherwise presented as psychologically comparable to normal humans. Representing a highly individualistic culture influenced by a historically-based value of freedom, members of American society often assume that a burning desire to be unique and independent exists in all humans. In order to address the definition of the human that causes readers to react with confusion towards the clones' passivity, I will examine facets of the characters' lives that both demonstrate human traits and lead to an unwillingness or inability to consider rebellion.