JulieKim

March26,2015
Ehrlich
MajorPaperI
Nowwehavereachedapointwherecloning,whichseemedimpossible,isnowpossible,
andwhatismoreisthatitiscontinuingtoberesearched.Thedebateabouttheethicsof
cloningisstillongoingremainingfierceasithaseverbeen.Theoneswhosupportcloningmay
saythatobjectingtocloningislikerejectingafurtherdevelopmentofmedicaltreatment.
Certainly,cloningwillbringgreatbenefitstothosewhoareinneedoforgantransplantation.
However,cloningisadoubleedgedswordthebenefitsofcloningwillequaltheamountof
consequences.Likehowgoodandevilcoexist,cloningcanbeusedinagoodcause,where
parentswithnoeggsandspermcancreatechildrenthataregeneticallyrelated,however,there
willbeamisusageofclonesontheotherside.Humanegowillcausecloningchildrentofoster
anunderstandingthatchildrencanbedesignedandreplicatedtotheparentswishes.
Nonetheless,itisnotguaranteedthatthecloneswillbetreatedfairly.Itismorelikelythatthey
willbeinstrumentalizedasanorgandonorratherthanbeingseenasanormalperson.
Cloning,itspurpose,istoprovideaneffectivemedicaltreatment;itisanassuredway
foreverypatientstogetmatchingorgansthatcanbetransplanted.Certainly,itmayalsobea
benefitwhenitcomestogivingabirthtoachildwhereparentswithnoeggsandspermwants
achildwhoisgeneticallyrelated.Nevertheless,clones,whichcanbereplicatedandcreated
geneticallyasapersonwant,canbemisusedforthecrimes.Thecreationofdifferentclones
couldbetrainedforunjustifiedpurposesthroughanearlyagetrainings.Becausetheclones

couldbeconsideredasmeretoolstobenefitthemselvesorfulfilltheirgoals,theywillbeused
asunlimitedsoldierswhowillbedoingthecrimefortheircreator.
ThebookNeverLetMeGoreflectsthefutureofoursocietyandcorruptionscausedby
cloning.Asclones,Kathy,Ruth,andTommywerekeptinHailshameversincetheywereborn.
PeopleoutsideHailshamintentionallycoveredtheeyesandearsoftheclones.Kathyandthe
otherstudentsinHailshamdidnotknowtheirrealidentity;theywereaccustomedtobe
independentfromthedaytheywerebornwithoutfamilyandnevergooutsidetheHailsham.
Thus,cloneswererestrictedundertheguardianswatchfuleyestoneverseekknowledge
outsidetheHailsham.Everybitoftheirlifewasputundersurveillancewithoutthemknowing.If
cloningistobecomeaworldwidemedicalmethod,theworldwillsufferconsequencesasa
resultofsuchanimmoralaction.Theviolationofhumanrightsisclearlyshown,howevermany
peoplewhosupportcloningassertthatthecloneswillbetreatedthesame.Thetriageexists
withinaworldwhereclonesandhumanscoexist;theywilluseclonesasaneffectivecurefor
manyhumansinordertoregainhealth,sacrificingfewlivestobringoutthebestresultevenif
itgoesagainstmoral.
Theartworkswithdrawnfromthestudentswereusedasasourceofexperiment
decidingwhetherornotcloneshaveemotions.Theclonesclearlydidnothavehumanrights
nooptionswereavailableforthem.Theirrighttoprivacywasviolatedthedaypeoplebuilt
Hailsham,aplacenodifferentthanaprison.Thetreatmenttowardtheclonesdifferedfrom
thatofnormalpeople.Althoughthesocietyingeneralisnotadystopia,theclonesdoliveina
dystopiansocietywheretheirfuturehasbeendeterminedforthem.Thefactthattheydidnot
evenknowabouttheoddnessoftheirlifeforsolongtellsusthatthestudentsinHailsham

wereeducateddifferentlyfromnormalstudents.Asyoucansee,Hailshamlackedineveryway.
Theywereparentless,yettheydidnotevenknowaboutwhatfamilywaslike.Theywere
adaptedtoentertainthemselvesthroughoddactivitiessuchasExchangesandSales,anditwas
forbiddentogooutsidetheboundariesofHailsham.Thusthecloneswereisolatedfromthe
realworld,unabletoliveanormallife.
Thefateofthecloneswasalreadydeterminedtobecomeorgandonorswhoselifewill
bealwaysatrisk.Asanexample.Ruthdiedfromtheorgantransplantation,andKathyand
Tommywouldfollowthesamepathlikeherfriendswhenthetimecomes.Peoplemaysaythat
theclonescanbetreatedequalastypicalhumanbeings,however,thefactthattheywere
createdinpurposeoforgandonationalreadymadeclonesimpossibletobecomeequalto
humansbecausehumanswillplacethemselvesbeforeclonesnomatterwhat.Laterinthe
book,Tommydesperatelytriedtobelievethatthedifferenceinhisartworkwillhelphimand
Kathytoescapefromthemiserablefuturethatliedaheadofthem.However,Tommysfalse
hopewascrushedwhenhevisitedMadameandMissEmilywhoexplainedthattheHailsham
wasaprogressiveplacetoraiseclones,andthatthepurposeofcollectingstudentsartwork
wastodemonstratetothepublicthatcloneshadsoulsanddeservedtobetreatedhumanely.
Thisiswhererealizationhitsthatthereisnohopeindystopiansociety.Despitetheeffortto
supportclonestohaveequaltreatmentashuman,MissEmilysmovementadvocatingfor
humanetreatmentofclonesdidnotsucceed.Peoplewereafraidthatclonesmightoverpower
them,sotheyneveracceptedthecloneasoneofthem.Therefore,aclonesbeingtreatedthe
sameashumansisanonsensebecausewhatIshigurowroteisareality.

AnarticlewrittenbyStephaniePetrillosharedherideaabouttheethicsofcloning.The
articlewascloselycorrelatedwithIshigurosNeverLetMeGobecausetheybothdelivereda
messagethatthecloningisimmoral.Petrillointroducedthatherpaperwillbeexploring
Ishigurosdystopiannovelbyanalyzingtheethicsofcloningthatoccursinthebookfromthe
standpointofanumberofmoraltheories.ShealsopointedoutthatthestudentsatHailsham
wouldneverbeabletoreproduce.Thisshowedthatthesocietyhasviolatedanintrinsicgood
ofnaturallawbyrenderingthemunabletoconceive.Althoughthebookisafiction,anidea
thatispresentedinitisnotanillusion.
Moreover,itisimportanttonoticethetermhumaninNeverLetMeGo,whichshows
discriminationtowardclones.PetrillostatesinherarticlethatKathy,Ruth,andTommywere
clonesandwerecreatedforthesolepurposeofeventuallydonatingtheirorganstononclones
toallowforthelatterscontinuedexistence.Inthenovel,itwasevidentthatKathy,Ruth,
Tommy,andalltheotherclonedbeingsarenotconsideredhumanbythesocietythatthey
inhabit.WhatIshigurotriestoconveyfromthisbook,Ifeellike,isthatalltheseeventsinthe
bookwilllikelybeourfutureaslongasthecloneresearchcontinues.Thereasonwhythebook
onlyshowsKathysperspectiveistopersuadethereaderstoagreethatthecloningisunethical.
Evenintodayssociety,the2002PresdentsCouncilonBioethicsrecommendedapreemptive
banonresearchthatcouldleadtoamethodofcloningtoproducechildren.Becausehe,too,is
afraidthatthedevelopmentincloningtechnologywillleadoursocietytobecomeadystopia.

References

Ishiguro,Kazuo.NeverLetMeGo.NewYork:AlfredA.Knopf,2005.Print.
Petrillo,Stephanie.(2014).MoralTheoriesandCloninginKazuoIshigurosNeverLetMe
Go.BerkeleyUndergraduateJournal,27(1).our_buj_21596.
Johnston,Josephine."[BookReview:HumanCloningAndHumanDignity:TheReportOfThe
President'sCouncilOnBioethics]."TheQuarterlyReviewofBiology:347.Print.

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