The Reasons Why The Main Characters Search Their Self-identity In Kazuo Ishiguro’s Novel Never Let Me Go
Abstract
The paper aims to know the reasons why the main characters search their self-identity in the novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro which it is a part of a research entitled “The Search of Self-Identity as Reflected in The Novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: A Psychological Approach”. The type of the study is library research. The primary data is taken from the novel Never Let Me Go; the secondary data are including books, criticism on the novel, biography of the author, and other sources related to the study. The subject of the study is novel Never Let Me Go. The object of the study is the reasons why the main characters search their self-identity as reflected in the novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro using the psychological approach. The collecting data steps are: (1) reading the novel, (2) reading sources, (3) gaining data, (4) categorizing data, and (5) Analyzing data. The researcher analyzes using descriptive qualitative method. The reasons of Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth as the main characters of their self- identity are to: know the importance of art, find their “possibles”, and get the deferral.
Introduction
Self-identity is an aspect which every human in the world has. Recited from Oyserman, Elmore, & Smith (2012) self often refers to “about me”. While identity is, as Tajfel & Turner; which written in Oyserman, Elmore, & Smith conceptualized as a way of making sense of some aspect or part of self- aspect. According to Oyserman, Self-concept is an idea or set of ideas of who we are. It can be seen that self-identity is the idea when someone think about him or her which it reveal the characteristics to differentiate oneself from other included the social and individual aspects.
There are four reasons why the search of self-identity is chosen to the research. First, the search of self-identity topic in literature actually can help to motivate the readers to find and develop the self-identity. The interesting one is some literary works influencing the readers’ perspective in searching the self-identity. Second, the researcher finds that the self-mental, social, and environment often influence the search of self-identity which it is interesting to analyze. Third, the search of self-identity happened all the time and its result gives huge impacts to the personality, behavior, and social. Fourth, the self-identity is important because it is being the characteristics which differed one and others. Related to it, it's crucial to search the self-identity and the literary works exist to expose it in a creative writing style based on the authors.
Here are several reasons why the researcher is interested to analyze the novel Never Let Me Go either other novel to the researcher's study. First, Never Let Me Go had awarded and filmed. Second, the author was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. He was being the 114th of the award in 2017. Third, the researcher is interested in how the main characters find out their identity in the novel. If other novels expose how the main character could not accept or get shocked the truth of their identity, then, in this novel the main characters' responses are contrasted. No matter how the truth revealed, mostly, they could be able to accept it even seems very hard to common people. Fourth, Never Let Me Go is a novel which rarely observed in literary work.
According to Erikson (1996), “The search for an identity involves the establishment of a meaningful self-concept in which past, present, and future are brought together to form a unified whole” (p. 51). It related to his statement in 1996 that “The establishment of a true sense of a personal identity is the psychological connection between childhood and adulthood. In order to acquire a strong and healthy ego-identity, the child must receive consistent and meaningful recognition for his or her achievement and accomplishments”. The above theories from Erikson mean that the searching the self-identity is done after the three period times: past, present, and future as a whole combination of the identity search which happened on those times. The reason of why the searching of self-identity occured is because of the people who do the search is needed to accomplish the consistence and meaningful recognition, whether it is from the society. Based on Erikson statement the crisis or conflict mostly occurs in the ages of the change happened: adolescence. He also stated that the change of one’s ego-identity depends on how the major role occurs, e.g. if a freshmen college leaves home and has to make the decision as the first time occurs to his or her life. There are issues which also make a person renews the identity are marriage, widowhood, the death of one’s parents, parenthood, divorce, one’s first job, unemployment, retirement, and serious illness.
Discussion
As it called, those reasons was also existed in the novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro which the main characters seek for the recognition in life (it can be seen when they looked for the possible). They were looking for something which they recognized deeply was impossible. As all of them were puzzles and mysteries. Whether, deep inside, they actually realized that they were different from the guardians and people outside. It needs to be stressed that the search of self-identity by the main characters was not in plans but they ever questioned it in the past. As the time passed, the answers were revealed one by one as they through their life as it flowed. So, there are three reasons why the main characters search their self-identity in the novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. The reasons can be seen as the following: There were several schedules held in Hailsham which took art as the important part of the event of their works which were taken away by Madame. But they did not recognize the importance of art in Hailsham, whether they questioned the existence of Madame who took the arts away. It can be proven by:
“I can’t quite put it right, not even to myself. But all this, what you’re saying, it sort of fits with a lot of other things that are puzzling. I keep thinking about all these things. Like why Madame comes and takes away our best pictures. What’s that for exactly?” “It’s for the Gallery.” “But what is her Gallery? She keeps coming here and taking away our best work. She must have stacks of it by now. I asked Miss Geraldine once how long Madame’s been here, what is this Gallery? Why should she have a Gallery of things done by us?” “Maybe she sells them. Outside, out there, they sell everything.” The above quotation was showing that Kathy still could not be able to explain the relation of the stuff Tommy talked to her and other things. At the moment, Kathy herself confused with the mysteries in Hailsham: what were the connection of them. While Tommy speculated a simple reason of why Madame who took their best work, she sold them. Those speculations of Kathy and Tommy related to the same question for art used. Indirectly through her replies, she knew there was a secret related to what Madame did with the works they had done.
The most important information at that time was about “possible”: the copies of them, in ordinary live they were called parents. There were reasons why the main characters interested to find their “possibles” as referred below: Ruth was ever dreamed to have a job as an officer after she saw an advert paper. As Ruth told her dream to others, Rodney and Chrissie were paid attention to hear. A few days after, Rodney told her that he saw Ruth’s “possible” in Norfolk as officer.
According to Ruth, Chrissie and Rodney had been busy exploring this seaside town they’d gone to and had split up for a while. When they’d met up again, Rodney was all excited and had told Chrissie how he’d been wandering the side-streets off the High Street, and had gone past an office with a large glass front. Inside had been a lot of people, some of them at their desks, some walking about and chatting. And that’s where he’d spotted Ruth’s possible. Kathy recalled what Ruth said to her about how Chrissie and Rodney spotted her 'possible'. She said that Rodney told Chrissie of what he had seen on the side-streets off the High Street. In front of the High Street, there was a large glass front of an office. There were a lot of people in front of their desks, did a lot of stuff then he said to Chrissie that he saw Ruth's 'possible'. While it happened because the background of the talk they had the last night before Rodney and Chrissie went to Norfolk which related to Ruth’s dream work.
After the day Tommy witnessed Kathy who strangely opened the porn magazines paper, Tommy found an idea behind it. Then Kathy told him the reason after Tommy pushed her to speak up as the following proofs written below: “All right Tommy. I’ll tell you. It may not make any more sense after you’ve heard it, but you can hear it anyway. It’s really just sometimes, every now and again, I get these really strong feelings when I wanted to have sex. Sometimes It just comes over me and for an hour or two it’s scary. For all I know, I could end up doing it with old Keffers, it’s that bad. That’s why . . . that’s only reason I did it with Hughie. And with Oliver. It didn’t mean anything deep down. I don’t even like them much. I don’t know what it is, and afterwards, when it’s passed over, it’s just scary. That’s why I started thinking, well, it has to come from somewhere. It must be to do with the way I am.” I stopped, but when Tommy didn’t say anything, I went on: “So I thought if I find her picture, in one of thos magazines, it’ll at least explain it. I wouldn’t want to go and find her or anything. It would past, you know, kind of explain why I am the way I am.” Tommy words led Kathy to tell him the reason that sometimes, she got a strong feeling to have sex. It was only coming for about an hour or two hours. But it was being miserable because she did it with random people. She was afraid that she could do it with the old man Keffers. So that was why she started to think about everything she did. Therefore she did stuff which unmade sense, by looking for her 'possible' in porn magazines. She did not hope more than she could know who she is from. She just wanted to know why she was being like that.
The deferral was, at first, unknown, until Chrissie and Rodney made it as a real chance for the Hailsham students. Then it was being a true effort to Kathy and Tommy to get the deferral. “Ruth did well for us,” he said, softly. “She got it right.” “Yeah, she did well. But now it’s up to us.” “So what’s the plan, Kath? Have we got one?” “We just go there. We just go there and ask her. Next week, when I take you for the lab tests. I’ll get you signed out for the whole day. Then we can go to Littlehampton on the way back.” As explained before, Ruth gave them Madame's address which they used to give a try of the deferral: the suspension to live together as a couple. The above conversation shows that Tommy was grateful that Ruth had done the right thing to them. It also could be interpreted that they had been a couple. So they made a plan to ask Madame. Kathy said that they would go to Littlehampton next week, after Tommy's lab tests, to meet Madame in the purpose of getting the deferral.
Conclusion
The conclusion from all three reasons of searching the self-identity was part of the theory from Erik Erikson called Identity Crisis, as they indirectly questioned the use of arts and the finding of their possibles. Tommy and Kathy have questioned the art wholly the time. On the other hand, Ruth and Kathy questioned their possibles. The last reason was to get a deferral. He brought his animal drawings to show if they might match to be a couple and could get the deferral to live normal as a couple for a few years. They were failed to know who their 'possibles' were: the people whom the students are copied from. They were also unable to get the deferral because it was not exist. In the other hand, they found information about the importance of arts which it used to show the outer world of their existence and similarity to ordinary people.
