Since I put down the Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro one particular scene from the novel keeps crossing my thoughts. The scene itself is not essential to the story, but there is something unsettling about it. On page 70, Kathy talks about Miss Lucy’s English class that led to the discussion about World War Two. While talking about the prison camps “one of the boys asked if the fences around the camps had been electrified, and then someone else had said how strange it must have been, living in a place like that, where you could commit suicide anytime you liked just by touching a fence.” (p. 70-71). The scene ends with everyone imitating being electrocuted by the fence with fits of laughter.

Miss Lucy’s bewilderment shows for only a moment, but she carries on pretending there is nothing wrong with the students’ amusement. It is Miss Lucy’s reaction that confuses me the most because I am certain that my teachers would not have reacted in the same manner. My teachers would have explained to us the horror of the situation, and how terribly wrong it is to make a mockery of the holocaust. Miss Lucy, on the other hand, passively comments and allows the students to continue. Miss Lucy’s comment, however passive, carries a mountain of weight. She says “It’s just as well the fences at Hailsham aren’t electrified. You get terrible accident sometimes.” She does not try to give the students understanding because they might, then, understand their own situation. Kathy, however, picks up on the last bit of her comment: “you get terrible accidents sometimes”. She wonders “what accidents? Where?”, but does not wonder if Miss Lucy is implying that Hailsham used to have electrified fences. Miss Lucy’s comment hints at the truth, but allows the contentment of oblivion to be preserved.