Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (OCR GCSE English Literature): Revision Notes

Never Let Me Go: Key Quotations

Below is a list of all of the quotations we have covered organised by character and theme:

1. Identity

• Ruth: "We're modelled from trash."
• Rodney: "That's where you're likely to find a possible."
• Rodney: "We'll have to find out where they keep the originals."
• Tommy: "The gallery... everyone talked about it as though it existed."

2. Nostalgia

• Kathy H.: "I lost Ruth and Tommy, but I won't lose my memories of them."
• Chrissie: "Hailsham was different, it was special."

3. Friendship

• Kathy H.: "I accepted the invisible rein she was holding out."
• Ruth: "I kept you and Tommy apart."
• Chrissie: "You know, Ruth, we might be coming here in a few years' time to visit you."

4. Maturing and Growing Up

• Tommy: "I'll have to get a lot better before she gets to see any of it."
• Miss Lucy: "If you're going to have decent lives, then you've got to know."

5. Individual Goals vs. Social Expectations

• Tommy: "The gallery... everyone talked about it as though it existed."
• Miss Lucy: "You've been told and not told."

6. Losing and Finding

• Kathy H.: "I lost Ruth and Tommy, but I won't lose my memories of them."
• Rodney: "That's where you're likely to find a possible."
• Rodney: "We'll have to find out where they keep the originals."

7. Life, Death, and Humanity

• Miss Emily: "Poor creatures. What did we do to you?"
• Miss Emily: "We gave you a childhood, but you're not like us."
• Madame: "Poor creatures. What did we do to you?"
• Madame: "She was crying because of us."

8. Loving, Caring, and Donation

• Kathy H.: "I accepted the invisible rein she was holding out."
• Tommy: "I'll have to get a lot better before she gets to see any of it."
• Miss Lucy: "If you're going to have decent lives, then you've got to know."