"I don't know how it is where you were, but..."
As I read these words, it made me think of how truly screwed up this book is. To me this repetition just seems condescending considering the rest of the world believes that the students are completely inhuman. It also makes me think of how the world is today still... "I don't know how it was where you grew up...but our worlds are obviously not the same"... In this book it is so painfully true. What if we all are donors - and never knew it?
A passage from 265 says "Back in the shadows where you'd been before the like of Marie-Claude and myself ever came along." It makes me think that yes, the two guardians did do something nice for these kids - but was Miss Lucy right? Would it be better of if the students knew?
I think that the passage Ben put in the blow also tells us that the audience that Kathy is trying to reach is all of us. In my mind she is saying... well - no one really knows each other's past - and what if, what if we are all donors in real life. I think it clearly makes a statement between us and them... although we truly have no idea who is "us" and who is "them"
Friday, December 4, 2009
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After reading others’ posts, my idea of us/them/it has changed and I think it is very obvious who the us/them/it are in this book. I think to understand who us/them/it are in this book the easiest, you must put yourself in Kathy’s shoes. As others have quoted and said, there is a distinct separation between Hailsham and the actual world. It’s easy to see here that the “them” are people in the actual world, those outside of Hailsham. Those who are “us” are the people inside Hailsham because those are the only people Kathy knows while at the school. As Kathy learns, there are distinct differences between the people outside of Hailsham compared to the people inside Hailsham, and this is why she says, “I don’t know how it is where you were but…”
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