Never Let Me Go anywhere because I’m an embarrassment

      The four covers of Never Let Me Go each depict a situation that is crucial to the novel. Each illustration represents one of the important parts of the story. The image on the top left conveys a sad, soft, and mysterious mood. It shows a teenage girl, who I assume is Kathy because she is the narrator, sitting in a grassy area. It also includes a quote from The New York Times with descriptions such as melancholy and alarming. The cover on the top left displays the boat that the group visits in chapter 19. This one portrays a lonely and ominous tone because it’s an empty boat without any characters present and has a dense fog slowly drifting in. It features a quote from Time magazine referencing “tour de force” which is an impressive recommendation. The third cover does not show a full person but only the outline of the 4 organs which are taken for donations. The gray and black scheme creates a cold and ominous mood and it uniquely does not contain a quote. The final cover shows a girl, probably Kathy once again, with brown hair and a blue dress, blurred into the background. It creates a more positive mood, but it’s less detailed and doesn’t have any outlines. This cover like the first two, includes a reference to the booker prize. Each cover is a unique illustration of a part of the plot and sets the beginning mood of the novel for the audience.

   The two covers I’m examining more closely are the two on the bottom. The first few words that come to mind about the cover on the bottom left are cold, death, wires, outline, and murder. When I first saw this, I thought of the chalk outline of a body at a murder scene. I could imagine it’s about a murder mystery even without reading the book because it evokes a gory and offsetting mood. Now that I’ve read the book, this cover seems to resemble the kids at Hailsham, who are created and raised solely so their organs can be used to save the lives of real humans. The viewpoint is from the perspective of anyone who isn’t one of the Hailsham students. This includes Madame, the guardians, and those outside of this ‘society’. It is because they only see the kids as a source of organ donations. Another connection is that the image is outlined by barbed wires. This can signify that the students are restricted to this life in Hailsham where they can’t leave or have expectations of creative works. The illustration and the color scheme hints at the evil side of the story. This contrasts to how at the beginning of the story Hailsham is depicted as a utopia to be uncovered in a dystopian society. I think if someone from the story wrote this book they would be a guardian. They would be a person who agrees with the Hailsham system and focuses on the importance of the organs and the type of life that is mandated for the students. Based on the cover, this book could be read by someone from the outside world who enjoys darker stories where the truth is revealed about the treatment of the kids.

   

   The last cover on the bottom right makes me think of being young, lost, and confused. I initially related this cover to how Kathy remembers her childhood. She admits to not being a reliable narrator because her memories can be mixed up and out of order. I think that the girl in the blue dress is Kathy, representing her as a student during her time at Hailsham. Kathy doesn’t want to lose her memories despite them being blurry and starting to fade away. This immediately connects to the title because all Kathy has left of Hailsham is her memories and if she lets those go, she loses herself. I would have thought that this was a mystery story about a little girl disappearing if I hadn’t read the book, because her face is turned away and the blurriness could show the movement of running. I think this could be coming from either Tommy or Kathy’s perspective. If it were Tommy, it would be because he watches his best friend/lover (Kathy) leave even though he is the one distancing himself from her. His best memory of her would be when they were young, but by separating, he loses his memory of Kathy. If this were from Kathy’s perspective, it would again relate to how she remembers the past as it begins to fade away. This cover doesn’t outline the focus of the picture like the one on the bottom left. I feel like this represents Kathy’s free and unique personality because she doesn’t want to be held back. She would rather learn more about herself, like with the possibles, and be the exception, like for the deferral. This image sparks the idea that even the children from Hailsham will be forgotten because the place closed. The students never lived a real life and only served their intended purpose. A person who would write this book would be someone like Kathy, who holds on to the past. The type of people who would read it would be those who want to learn the truth about Kathy’s life and struggles. This cover does not create a positive mood and because of that, it hints at the melancholy truth of the plot.