Student Question
Can you provide a brief character description for Chrissie and Rodney in Never Let Me Go?
Quick answer:
Chrissie and Rodney are minor characters in Never Let Me Go, introduced when Kathy and her friends leave Hailsham for the Cottages. Chrissie is described as tall and potentially beautiful but often appears hunched. Rodney sports a 1970s rock musician style with his hair in a ponytail and talks about reincarnation. They highlight the differences in treatment between Hailsham students and other clones and introduce a rumor about love granting a reprieve from organ donation duties.
We receive a full description of Chrissie and Rodney in Chapter 12 of this poignant novel. They are a couple who Kathy and her friends meet when they leave Hailsham and go to the Cottages, which seems to be a kind of halfway house before the clones start their real purpose of supplying their organs and caring for each other. Note the following description that is given of Chrissie:
Chrissie was a tall girl who was quite beautiful when she stood up to her full height, but she didn't seem to realise this and spent her time crouching to be the same as the rest of us. That's why she often looked more like the Wicked Witch than a movie star...
Rodney is described in the following way:
He went around with his hair tied back in a ponytail, like a rock musician from the seventies, and talked a lot about things like reincarnation.
Both characters are minor characters in the novel as a whole, and their main function is to show the contrast between the treatment Kathy, Tommy and Ruth received at Hailsham and the treatment that other clones received. They also inform the Hailsham trio about the rumour that a couple that is really in love can receive a remission from having their organs harvested for a while so that they can at least live together in peace for a period of time.
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