A Study Of Biopolitics In Never Let Me Go In The Light Of Power Theory

In the long history of the world,the existence of life and population play a key role in its development.The problems brought about by life and population have been provoking explorations on the part of countless philosophers.The theories of biopolitics came into being just on the basis of these problems.Set in contemporary England in the 1970 s and 1980 s,Never Let Me Go,written by Kazuo Ishiguro(1954-),is a novel trying to reveal the theme of life and population.This thesis seeks to make a philosophical and political analysis of Never Let Me Go and explores the attitude of the great and fearless clones toward life in their sacrifice for human beings.With Never Let Me Go as the object of study,it tries to come up with Kazuo Ishiguro's revelation of the ethics of life in the light of the theories of Foucauldian biopolitics and Roberto Esposito's “paradigm of immunization”.This thesis starts with an introduction of Never Let Me Go,including its plot and main characters,the author Kazuo Ishiguro,the literature review of the existing researches relevant to the studies of Never Let Me Go,the significance of the study and the theoretical basis.It examines three powers that regulate and control the clones' short life-span,analyzes the non-violent resistance conducted by the clones and the guardians,and interprets the immunatery mechanism that the donation programme functions.The first one is the sovereign power which determines the clones' life and death to maintain human beings' health by using the clones' organs.The second one is the disciplinary power which regulates and controls individual clones' life to produce qualified organ donors.The third one is the biopower which sacrifices the clones' lives to safeguard collective interests.There is an interrelationship of development among the three powers.The sovereign power is diminished by the appearance of the disciplinary power and the biopower.The overall tendency of the development of the powers moves from negative to positive.And as where there is power there is resistance,both the guardians and the clones carry out resistance to the powers.The guardians' resistance mainly points to the biopower and the disciplinary power,the purpose of which is to make the clones live a decent life,while the clones' resistance points to the three powers,the purpose of which is to seek equal rights and life dignity as human beings.Both the clones' and the guardians' resistance to the powerful oppression ends up in failure.The guardians' indifference to the clones' lives and the depression of the clones' motivation constitute the interior reasons of the failure,while Morningdale Scandal and the rumor fact of deferral constitute the exterior reasons of the failure.After encountering the failure of resistance,the clones understand the extent to which they can transcend their fate and choose to sacrifice themselves in defense of the community constituted by the clones and human beings.As time runs out,the clones figure out that what really matters is the happy memories they used to possess,the precious friendship they count on,and the dignity and respect that they should have as the real human beings do.The study produces the finding that the clones' lives are under the control of the sovereign power,the disciplinary power and the biopower,which leads to the resistance of the guardians and the clones.In spite of their failure of resistance,the clones realize the responsibilities they take during the process of organ donation.Only when they are completed,can they be respected by human beings and their true value be realized.To this end,the clones choose to sacrifice themselves in defense of community.Therefore,in order to gain equal rights,dignity and respect,the clones prove themselves to all human beings through death.During the short lifespan of the clones,they have been trying to find their place in the world and make sense of their lives though they cannot escape from their tragic fate.In the modern society where power relationship becomes more and more complex and diverse,the clones' story inspires the modern people to seek the meaning of life.Love and friendship will never disappear due to the powerful oppression.Human beings should always stand in awe of lives so as to find the infinite meanings of life within limited time.