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Originally Posted by astrangerhere
My wife read this with me because she had really enjoyed the film, and wanted to be able to talk about the book with me. She felt like she was listening to an old woman telling stories in a nursing home. Which, when you think about Kathy's lifespan, is basically what she is. Close to death with nothing left but her memories.
I think Kathy might also seem unreliable because we are having to see from her perspective as someone with hardly any contact with the outside world. Her perceptions, emotions, and judgment are limited by the very few other children/young adults she met, all of whom were basically marching onward to their noble deaths. She knows nothing beyond the role of carer or donor.
I also find it interesting that they are taught to refer to death as "completion." It's sort of a fun-house mirror version of the heroic quest. Their purpose is literally completed by their death.
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We do go in for euphemisms, for example saying that someone has "passed away" rather than saying that they have died. So I thought that this use of such terms underlined the humanity of the clones.
The title of the book is another example. We know only too well that they have to let each other go, and Tommy deals with this by requesting another carer.