While the specific subject of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel is cloning, the characters’ experiences and relationships lead the reader to a more basic question about what constitutes human identity. The author does not introduce the reader to the original humans from whom the children at Hailsham were cloned, so we cannot determine if the characters are identical in personality as well as genetic makeup. Several possible main arguments can be formulated based on Ishiguro’s central idea. One line of argumentation concerns nature versus nurture. Depending on the reader’s interpretation, they could argue that either nature or nurture is more important. Ishiguro seems to lean toward nurture, as he emphasizes the role of their upbringing: Hailsham unites the central characters and provides a unique environment that has positive elements even though it confines them. The relative lack of autonomy in charting their own paths also raises questions about free will. Ishiguro suggests that the three friends exercise free will in their affectionate relationships with each other and their efforts to use the system to their benefit. Even though they are wrong about the exception for couples, Kathy and Tommy take definite steps toward escaping their fate.

There are many good arguments that come from the text of Never Let Me Go. It is very dystopian in nature, which means it is a reflection on the darker tendencies of our society, drawn out to their full extent. This novel presents a very interesting and frank discussion of the sanctity of life. The clones who are the main characters in the novel know that they are bred to be slaughtered for their organs and that they are essentially glorified life support systems. However, they still feel things, have emotions, and experience hope and joy. Because of this, a good argument to make from the pages of this book is that all beings deserve a shot at life and a purpose.

A key theme of this excellent text is the way in which the clones are treated at Hailsham and by society in general, and in particular how they are not told the truth initially, and then only fed certain lines of argument that support the harvesting of organs and do not expose the full horror of what the clones must endure. This is a theme that becomes clear to both Kathy and the reader in Chapter Seven, when Miss Lucy, one of the guardians at Hailsham, is no longer able to restrain herself from telling the truth to these children. What triggers this revelation is hearing the children talking about their plans for the future. Note what she says to them:

The problem, as I see it, is that you've been told and not told. You've been told, but none of you really understand, and I dare say, some people are quite happy to leave it that way. But I'm not. If you're going to have decent lives, then you've got to know and know properly. None of you will go to America, none of you will be film stars... Your lives are set out for you. You'll become adults, then before you're old, before you're even middle-aged, you'll start to donate your vital organs.

The theme of information and how this is used and abused in order to keep the clones understanding only very little about their situation and to keep them accepting of their fate is a key theme in the novel. Critics have remarked, often with great annoyance, about the way in which the characters never challenge or question their fate: they do not try to run away or to rebel. However, Ishiguro paints a picture of a society that carefully feeds them arguments to help them except their lot in life. They are told they are very special and they are given strict instructions to look after their health. The clones are quite clearly indoctrinated by society at large so that they fulfill their role of donating their organs. Information and its use and abuse is therefore a key theme in the novel and well worth exploring further.