Hailsham
The Cottages
Life as a Carer
Donation Logistics
Miscellaneous
100

Why do the guardians avoid telling students the full truth about their futures?

They believe protecting the students' innocence is kinder, although this raises ethical questions.

100

What does life at the Cottages teach Kathy, Ruth and Tommy about adulthood?

That adulthood is uncertain, performative and often disappointing.

100
Does Kathy enjoy being a carer?
Yes, she does. Some days are very difficult, like with everything, but most days she is very content doing it.
100
How many donations is the average donor expected to give?
Three
100
Who ran Hailsham?
Miss Emily.
200
Which guardian tells Tommy that it doesn't matter that his artwork isn't very good and he should stop worrying so much about it, and then later takes back this statement?
Miss Lucy
200

Why are the veteran couples fascinated by television and magazines?

Because they are trying to imitate a society they were never truly part of.

200
Why do carers do so much traveling?
They have to drive all over England to visit all of their donors, who are in different recovery centers, a few times each week.
200
When a donor dies after a donation, what is this called?
Completing.
200
In Hailsham, what are tokens used for?
They are used to by other students' work at the Sales throughout the year.
300

What does Tommy's inability to create art initially suggest about Hailsham's values?

It suggests artistic ability is linked to identity and worth within Hailsham.

300

Why is finding Ruth's "possible" so important to her?

She hopes it will explain her identity and prove she came from someone successful.

300

Why is caring for Tommy emotionally different from Kathy's previous donors?

Because Tommy is someone she has loved since childhood.

300
What are the duties of a carer?
To be a companion to the donors. They talk with them, bring them treats, speak with the donor's doctors and nurses. They are there to try and make the end of the donor's life as pleasant as possible.
300

Why does society accept cloning despite its ethical problems?

Because cloning provides life-saving organs and society chooses convenience over morality.

400
Why did Kathy try so hard to hide her tape from everyone at Hailsham?
Two reasons. First, students at Hailsham don't have many belongings, and what they do have, they are often very protective of. The tape was very special to Kathy, and she wanted it to be her own, private thing. Second, on the case, there was the singer smoking a cigarette, and everyone was always lectured on the dangers of smoking, and how they should never do it. Kathy didn't want to get in trouble, so she kept it to herself.
400
What will Ruth and Kathy often do together late at night?
They will make cups of tea, bring them up in to one of their tiny bedrooms and talk until the early hours of the morning.
400
What rumor goes around that Ruth clings on to in the last few months of her life?
The rumor is that if a couple can show they are truly in love, they can be given extra time before doing their donations. First Ruth wants this for herself, and then later for Kathy.
400
Do donors know their carers, before they became their carers?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. When a carer is doing a particularly good job with their donors, they might given the option to choose some of their donors, and will sometimes pick people who they knew from earlier in their life.
400
For what was the real purpose of the Gallery?
Marie-Claude and Miss Emily used to go around to conventions showing people the students artwork and writing in a effort to prove to the world that these clones did have souls.
500

Why is Norfolk an important symbol in the novel?

It represents hope, and the possibility of finding what has been lost emotionally and physically.

500
What does Ruth do when Kathy talks with her about Hailsham, to make Kathy feel excluded, childish and stupid?
Ruth pretends to forget things about Hailsham, that Kathy knows she remembers perfectly well.
500
Why does Kathy request to be Ruth's carer?
She requests this, because well on the road between recovery centers, she met up with one of her Hailsham friends and the friend mentioned to her the ideas, which she had already been considering for a while.
500
Why are certain people donors, and others aren't?
The donors are clones of other, regular people, and most of them grow up in often times cruel government centers without any family or interaction outside of that facility.
500

What ultimately does Ishiguro suggest makes someone truly human?

The ability to love, remember, create relationships and experience emotion—not biology.

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