Trauma, Memory, and Identity in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go: A Posthumanist Reading

Abstract

This study explores the interconnected themes of trauma, memory, and identity in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go through a posthumanist perspective. The research investigates how cloned individuals experience psychological and existential trauma, how memory functions as a means of preserving selfhood, and how identity is constructed within a society shaped by technological control and institutional exploitation. Using a qualitative research design based on close reading and textual analysis, the study examines the experiences of Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth as they negotiate their existence as clones destined for organ donation. The analysis reveals that trauma emerges through social exclusion, dehumanization, loss of autonomy, and awareness of predetermined mortality. Memory serves as a crucial mechanism through which the characters reconstruct their past, preserve emotional relationships, and maintain continuity between past and present experiences. The study further demonstrates that identity is not determined by biological origin but is formed through memory, consciousness, relationships, and lived experiences. The findings indicate that the cloned characters continuously struggle to affirm their humanity despite being reduced to biological resources by social institutions. Through the experiences of the clones, the novel challenges conventional definitions of humanity and exposes the ethical consequences of technological exploitation. The study concludes that trauma, memory, and identity are deeply interconnected forces that contribute to the formation of posthuman subjectivity. By redefining humanity through emotional experience, memory, and ethical relationships, the novel presents a powerful critique of dehumanisation and offers a broader understanding of human identity in the age of biotechnology.