A Comparison of the Novel and Film Never Let Me Go

When it comes down to both a novel and a film, the general consensus is that the novel is more effective and is filled with great detail in which captures the reader’s attention. Many people have the mindset that they have the opportunity to simply wait and enjoy the film rather than taking the time to read the novel in relation to the film. Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, Never Let Me Go, illustrates a mixture of devastation, innocence, knowledge, and loss in much greater detail than the film itself. To begin, a character is an individual in a novel, movie, or a play. Unfortunately, while one is in deep imagination throughout a novel, they visualize images of specific characters in which has no correlation to what is portrayed in the film. For instance, when one is reading a novel, it is as if they are visualizing scene by scene in their minds, picturing the character's image and settings of their own.

By coming to the realization and identifying these key differences in a character between the novel and the film, it is best to focus on one specific character and pay attention as much as possible to catch the differences that are thrown at you. For example, in both the novel and film, I focused my full attention into one character. Her name was Ruth. Throughout the novel, it portrayed the sense that sometimes Ruth was so nice that one may want to reach through the page to give her a hug. But the majority of the time, one would in actuality want to strangle her to death, because she can be very discourteous and ill—mannered Her best friend, Kathy,notices also, and even makes mention of it by asserting “I had this notion there were two quite separate Ruth’s”.

Perhaps, it’s moments when Ruth goes out of her way to help find Kathy's prized possession, her Judy Bridgewater tape,that she misplaced by accident (Ishiguro, 74775), or all of the times that Ruth was down for late night snickering and personal conversations with Kathy, that she expressed herself as the selfless and kind-hearted friend she was able to be when she chose to. On the flip side, Ruth had this very selfish and bossy side of her in which took part throughout most of the novel. She is nothing but a handful of drama and constantly bossing everybody around. She is the type of person that always has to have the upper hand, and is more interested in being cool and half-hearted rather than taking the time to be nice and polite to the people around her. The scene that cattght my attention the most that portrayed this specific side of Ruth, happens to be the part where she belittled Kathy by letting her know loud and clear that even if she and Tommy were to split, Kathy needed to realize that “Tommy didn‘t see her that way, as a proper girlfriend”.

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With this being said in a very harsh and demanding tone, Kathy just brushed it off and acted as if she completely understood and showed no signs of hurt or sadness towards Ruth. Another scene that revealed the selfish side of Ruth is the argument her, Tommy, and Kathy had while at the Cottages involving Tommy‘s theory of the Gallery Ruth brings up “Tommy’s big Gallery theory“ and her aggravation kicks in from the thought of her knowing nothing of it, but Kathy being aware of it all along Ruth informs Tommy that his art isn’t of much worth in which she hopes that he’s creating these animals as a joke and not being serious about them. Shortly, Ruth blurts out that even Kathy finds his animals a complete hoot. As unpleased as Ruth is, she throws Kathy under the bus and takes words out of her mouth that were never spoken of. As Ruth became a donor, she simply lets go of the past and was hopeful for a brighter future for her friends, Tommy and Kathy.

By doing this, she lets loose and apologizes to Kathy for everything she has done to intentionally hurt her and for reasons as to why she kept “Tommy and Kathy apart all those years” As a great deed, Ruth was proactive and got Madame’s address and told them both to go find it and get the deferral in which they both wholeheartedly deserved In contrast, the film didn’t reveal the exaggerated rudeness in which the novel brought Ruth out to be. Throughout the majority of the film, Ruth seemed to have been fairly tranquil and caring towards Kathy, rather than constantly inquiring about drama and making selfish comments and rude gestures. However, there was a similarity within the novel and the film based upon Ruth’s attitude and selfishness. This appeared in the scene when she informed Kathy that she was not to be with Tommy if they ever split and that he didn’t like her as that of a proper girlfriend anyways.

She enunciated all of this with a very stern facial expression and a bitter tone in both the novel and film. The rest of the film depicted Ruth’s personality and character as though she was a complete different person apart from the noveL Furthermore when differentiating between a novel and a film, most individuals would simply state the obvious by suggesting that writers use words and film-makers use pictures or in a novel a scene is in description, but depicted in a film. Although these assumptions are correct, if looked into it in depth, you will realize that the general plot of the novel and the film have many scenes in which ideas and situations are adjusted for reasons we may never understand. In the midst of reading Never Let Me Go, and watching it, a variety of scenes took on both similarities and differences. In the novel, for example, Kathy’s most prized possession was her cassette tape (preferably track number 3 “Never Let Me Go”).

She took really good care of it, until it went missing, coincidentally after Madame caught her swaying back and forth to the song pretending to hold a baby in her arms (Ishiguro, 71). It was then brought back to her remembrance when Tommy offered to help find it for her on their trip to locate Ruth’s possible Kathy ended up finding herself in a local thrift store and was very grateful to have found an exact copy of the taper. Whereas, in the film, the cassette tape was mentioned once as in the novel, but it was Ruth who caught her in the moment rather than Madame. Even more, the cassette tape never went missing in the film and there was no searching around for it on the trip as Tommy and Kathy seeked [0 find for the longest time. Another scene in which caught my attention was when Ruth apologized to Kathy and gave her Madame’s address that she searched long and hard for, for her and Tommy to go try and receive a deferral after becoming his carer.

In the novel, the apology took place in the car, stopped on the side of the road while observing a poster ad (Ishiguro, 228- 229). She apologized for the multiple things she intended to, and carried on with telling Kathy to become Tommy’s carer, and following that, going to attempt to receive a deferral from Madame. Keep in mind, Ruth completed after her second donation before Kathy even became Tommy’s carer. In the film, the three amigos as I like to call to them, went on a scavenger hunt to observe a stranded boat (Ishiguro, 216). This boat holds a metaphorical meaning in which shows how their lives unfold, symbolizing the clones and the story of Hailsham versus their inevitable future. At this point in the film, Ruth makes amends and apologizes just as she did in the novel. What surprised me the most was that Ruth had not yet completed before Kathy became Tommy‘s carer, which has to take on an uncomfortable feeling within Kathy.

As one can see, novels and films hold a great variety of differences. It’s as if one know’s what makes the story worthy, so when information is missing, it produces discouragement amongst the audience. In conclusion, the novel, Never Let Me Go, puts forth more effectiveness rather than the film because it contains a bulk of detail. The novel helps one come to know characters best through what they are thinking and what is said about them and goes into depth for the reasons behind the scenes that take place. Watching a film after reading the novel tends to change ones perspective from one route to another. Ruth is illustrated differently within the two versions. The novel describes and represents her as a bossy little brat that always has to be the center of attention, whereas the film contradicts this description by representing her as more of an occasionally rude individual, but mostly a more calm and less bossy little girl. Furthermore, Ruth is better depicted by reading the novel, as opposed to watching the film.

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