1) Why would seeing
Kathy holding the pillow and signing have affected Madame the way that it did?
I think that she interpreted it as Kathy desiring to
have a baby and imagining how her life as a mother would be. Maybe this made
her feel sad and perhaps guilty because she can have babies and Kathy can´t.
2) We learn in this
chapter that the students are all sterilized. Why? How does this contribute to
the ‘otherness’ of the students?
I think that students are sterilized because there are
“designed” to die young by giving away organs so they can`t have anyone
depending on them, since they won´t be able to take care of them. Their only role is to work as donors or carers
for each other, so having babies would be an unnecessary burden for their
meaningless (at least that’s how the outside society might see and look down on
them) lives. Moreover, their lifespan is pretty short when you take into
account that donors have usually been deducted of 3 of their vital organs
before the 30 year old mark, so they wouldn’t really have time to have babies.
Apart from these hindrances, it’s also relevant to take into consideration the
ethical issues that clones having babies would raise in the normal society.
This contributes
to our impression of the Hailsham students as different or “other”.
3) Tommy thinks
that Madame cried because ‘she thought it was really tragic, how you couldn’t
have babies.’ (p 72). How does this comment highlight his immaturity and lack
of understanding?
This suggests Tommy’s naivety and immaturity and he
fails to understand that they are clones and that Madame seems to have played a
part in creating this world at Hailsham. Maybe Madame is even responsible for
them being clones; it could have been her idea. Tommy innocently thinks that
she is upset about them not being fertile when the reality is probably that
their world has been constructed by her.
4) Ruth buys Kathy
a new tape, when her special one is lost. Why? What does this tell
us about the relationship between the two girls?
Ruth buys Kathy a new tape to make up for the latter
sticking up for the former when she was asked about her new pencil case. From
then on, Ruth feels as though she owes something to Kathy, so when Kathy
mentions the loss of her favourite tape, Ruth sees a perfect opportunity to
balance out the favours, so, as soon as the following Sales start, she buys Kathy
a new tape to replace the other one, although she doesn’t like it that much.
Nevertheless, Kathy never told Ruth about it as it was her intention which
counted for her. This whole situation suggests that the relationship between
Ruth and Kathy, once broken apart because of Miss Geraldine’s secret club, was
repaired, and, therefore, the friendship between Kathy and Ruth persevered.
5) Kathy says
that ‘We didn’t do things like hug each other much
at Hailsham.’ (p75). What does this
tell us about life at Hailsham? What sort of an effect will this type of
upbringing have on the students?
It makes sense that guardians don’t promote
affectivity, as the students at Hailsham are clones whose role is to serve the
real human being with their bodies. Emotions could distract them and separate
them from their purpose, something which was probably considered an obstacle.
This means that the students will not develop emotional behaviour, as they are
not necessary for their future lives as donors or carers. Also, it maybe
because they don’t have family, no one in Hailsham has a father or a mother.
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