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Originally Posted by CRussel
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3.) Where it fails, to my way of thinking, is that as a morality piece, it's not particularly compelling or convincing. If the goal is to make us think about medical ethics, it's way too late. Had this been written at the beginning of the transplant era, it would have more excuse. But we've already settled this. And certainly, anyone beyond their formative years has already decided how they feel about organ farming if they've bothered to think about it (or much of anything.)
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I think the medical situation is merely a prop in the story, I don't think the story itself is intended to be about cloning. The story is sci-fi only to the extent that it is an alternative history piece, and perhaps to the extent that it supposes we might segregate people like this (which should come as no surprise at all). The cloning is a prop, the donor system is a way of presenting people going to their completion willingly - as a result of the way society has segregated them and educated them.
I think fantasyfan hit it pretty close when describing the students leaving to begin their cycle of Carer-Donor-Completion. In the story, the cloning is merely a prop to implement this cycle.