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  • Essay / Death and Human Dilemmas: Creating Sympathy for the Characters in Romanek's 'Тever Let Me Go'

    Mark Romanek explores the difficult choices people make when facing death in his film Never Let Me Go (2010) . It explores the raw human emotions of jealousy and forgiveness through the characterization of Ruth (Keira Knightley) and Kathy (Carey Mulligan). When faced with death, it is common to act towards the people we care about, this concept being developed through the character of Ruth. However, people also want to forgive and be forgiven. These contradictory choices and the subsequent actions the characters face are crucial to the film. The dystopian story of cloning humans for their organs is so far removed from the audience's own experiences that they feel apathy for the characters. To counter this, the director succeeds in humanizing Kathy and Ruth by placing them in situations that many people have also experienced, allowing viewers to connect emotionally to the film. In doing so, Romanek positions them to question the ethics behind organ culture, as the characters express very human qualities rather than acting like faceless objects. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Romanek explores the human emotion of jealousy, particularly in the face of death, and how difficult it is to reverse its consequences. This emotion is shown by the character Ruth, reflecting on how she behaves towards Tommy and Kathy, because she never wanted to be left alone. Ruth's qualities of insecurity and vulnerability are present from the beginning of the film in Hailsham, which defines her actions. The director first introduces the character of Tommy at a time when he is being teased by characters on his level, including Ruth. Kathy is the only person in her year to approach Tommy and later become friends. However, as soon as Ruth sees that Kathy and Tommy are happy together, her jealous state pushes her to put aside her friendship with Kathy. Romanek foreshadows these actions in a scene in Hailsham, where Ruth and Kathy gossip in bed about the blossoming relationships within their graduating class. The scene opens with an over-the-shoulder shot from Kathy's point of view, with Ruth's dialogue showing her interest in the love lives of their peers. Ruth's change in body language and dialogue about how "Tommy has changed" indicate her new opinion after seeing Kathy's interest in him. Additionally, having a dimmer light on Ruth rather than Kathy depicts her naive behavior and how Ruth will manipulate her friend to get what she wants. Ruth makes a conscious choice to ignore Kathy's feelings toward Tommy in order to avoid her greatest fear of being alone. As the film progresses, Ruth's vulnerability and jealousy towards her peers also increases. His jealousy comes to a head in "The Cottages", which illustrates their fate as organ donors. Here, Ruth attempts to regain control over the only possible aspect of her life, namely her relationships with others. Romanek highlights this idea in the scene where Kathy is listening to music, and Ruth interrupts her with hurtful remarks. The backlighting on Ruth as she enters the room, coupled with the eerie non-diegetic music and the full low-angle shot, makes her appear sinister and powerful, which makes the audience nervous and unsure of the situation. Ruth's mean but personal dialogue and open body language while belittling Kathy momentarily demonstrate her vulnerability, stating that "Tommy and Kathy would be a more natural couple". Romanek chooses to explore this concept to humanize the.