Cruelty Is Bad: Banality And Proximity In Never Let Me Go

In Bruce Robbins’ essay “Cruelty Is Bad: Banality and Proximity in Never Let Me Go,” the author writes about Kazuo Ishiguro’s use of cruelty between characters to explain the consequences of the welfare state in Never Let Me Go. In the limited fifteen pages of the essay, Robbins manages to touch on the concepts of the welfare state, upward mobility, cruelty and emotional distance, society’s reward system, the suppression of anger, the philosophy of merit, and the parallels between caring and cruelty. In essence, Robbins somehow weaves these varied ideas into a cohesive essay, but often at the risk of clarity. His ideas are sound, however it is necessary to mentally reorganize his structure to fully comprehend his argument in a meaningful way. One of the largest moral dilemmas Robbins touches on is the juxtaposition between caring and willfully ignoring--or perhaps willfully accepting--the institutionalized misfortunes of others, such as the Guardians views of the clones in Never Let Me Go. The discussion of upward mobility and the welfare state is a thread that continues through the rest of the work, as Robbins is emphasizing Ishiguro’s critique on these concepts. He analyzes precisely what the welfare state means for the world in the novel, particularly in regard to the reward systems. “Rewards” such as deferrals, entry into the Gallery, and even the approval of superiors cannot exist in a society in which the clones do not have futures. The “no-fault philosophy”