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Danielle Casillas
Professor H. Jorgenson
English 114B
May 13, 2014
Pond of Lies
Have you ever noticed someone acting differently in a surrounding where others are
because of the environment they are in? In the novel, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro he
demonstrates the changes in environments affect the behavior in which people act to be accepted.
Kazuo Ishiguro introduces us to the relationship between Kathy H. and Tommy, which
demonstrates the way people act differently toward one another in a changed surrounding and
affects the way one treats another. The scene where Tommy and Kathy H. are talking, near the
pond presents signals of Kathy H. changing the way she acts with Tommy because she wants to
continue being accepted, so she only talks to Tommy in a secluded environment where no one
can see otherwise she would not be accepted by the others. By acceptance, I am talking about
doing whatever needs to be done such as losing the meaning of friendship, doing whats
expected of her, and lowering oneself to become a bully.
Tommy is, an outcast at Hailsham, who is regularly bullied and treated awfully by the
others. Kathy H. and Tommy both seek acceptance at Hailsham by the others, although wanting
acceptance from their peers comes more from Kathy, than so Tommy. When Kathy and Tommy
are by the pond talking Kathy says, I walked round him and stood with my back to the water,
facing the house, so that Id see if people started gathering at the windows(26). Kathy is so
worried about what the others at Hailsham like Ruth, her best friend, might say if they saw her
talking to someone like Tommy, that she reacts by watching the windows to make sure no one is
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aware of what is going on near the pond. Tommy and Kathy are friends, but he is not a part of
any popular crowd at Hailsham so, Kathy talking to him in secret leads the friendship to have
less meaning where others are around. Kathy knows that whomever she sits near or talks to may
create a sudden and permanent decrease in her social status. She ranks the friendship carried with
Tommy as a less meaningful relationship with her actions proven in the text. For Kathy to loose
social status would be like loosing her identity, so she rather not let her friendship with Tommy
be known. Therefore because Kathy rather hide from onlookers while talking to Tommy she
emphasizes less meaning to their friendship.
In modern day society, people watch whom they speak to because they are concerned
about reasons why they might have to justify talking to someone different or out of the ordinary
to someone else. In a recent article posted in Time Magazine called, The Surprising Downside
of Becoming One of the Cool Kids by Randye Hoder she stated that, Its kind of a hidden
pattern of victimization thats rooted in the competition for social status. She is sharing that
even people who are popular or have high social status are ostracized so, they must watch what
they do, with whom they are around, and/or face constant criticism. Even though, the popular
kids have high social status they also lose the meaning of friendship with people whom they used
to connect with because it is typically bad for the both of them continuing to carry out a
friendship because of the new social standards that come with different crowds. The high
attention focused on the popular kids makes it hard to carry a friendship with someone at the
bottom of the popularity chart. Moreover, it is difficult to consider the meaning of friendships
when a person will not be accepted in society for relating to someone of different social status.
Kathy has to do what is expected of her when it comes to her actions, especially while
being watched at Hailsham school. In the text of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Kathy
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says Im not sure if it was for Tommys benefit, or for any onlookers, but Id kept my posture
looking very provisional(26). Kathy explains that doing something out of the ordinary will
stir up some controversy for her and Tommy but she also notes that she is not fully aware if she
is taking these precautions solely for her social protection. For example, she should not be
hanging out talking to Tommy by the pond because it is bad for her social status. If someone
where to witness the pond scene they would not have expected Kathy to be speaking to someone
like Tommy and if she were they would think it was to torment the boy some more because
thats whats expected of her. Kathys circle of friends may neglect her, if what they view her
doing is unacceptable to them; it will discontinue their friendship and severe ties immediately.
Therefore high expectations are set for Kathy and she must talk to Tommy near the pond where
she can spot an onlooker in an instant to protect her image.
Today people do not do certain things in public due to being embarrassed because
somethings are not expected to be done in public areas where everyone is watching. Many times
society doesnt allow for people to do new things because when someone continually does the
usual and all of a sudden does something different it is unexpected and catches peoples
discomforts. For example, in a news article in The Los Angeles Times called So He Wears a
My Little Pony Backpack? Stop Gender Policing and Let Kids Be Kids by Susan Rohwer, she
shares a story of a boy wearing a My Little Pony Backpack to school and being given lots of
criticism from doing something out of the ordinary to some people. For the reason that he is a
boy it is not allowed in todays society for him to wear a backpack that has been stereotyped as a
gender created product for girls. This behavior is not acceptable and comes with consequences
stringing along and contributes to detrimental effects of viewing oneself in a negative light. For
the reason that it is not expected to wear a My Little Pony backpack makes it harder for the
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children to feel acceptance and comfort in what they would like in how they would like to do
things or act. It was not expected for the young boy to wear a My Little Pony backpack to school
so it caused people to feel discomfort because it was not the usual. Therefore when someone
does what is not expected it leads to not feeling accepted by those around you.
Although, we know some actions come with consequences of hurting people we continue
to do what we are not supposed to. Kathy H. is apart of the group at Hailsham that has bullied
Tommy and been onlookers to Tommy throwing tantrums due to how he is treated. Kathy was
one of the many to have teased Tommy and broken his spirits by bullying him and leaving him to
feel bad about himself. Kathy says in Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro I immediately felt
sorry to have teased him, even though I hadnt meant to(26). Kathy shows that she is fully
aware of her actions and the effects they cause on a person like Tommy. She felt bad about the
way she acted when her groups of friends were around her encouraging her to bully poor
Tommy. Meanwhile, after she sat at the pond with Tommy she seen even more how she had hurt
him by the energy he was throwing off. Tommy was always bullied and when Kathy H. joined
into it, it hurt him even more because he had considered her a friend and she had always acted as
a friend in closed areas. It seems like it hurt Tommy more because he had considered Kathy to be
a close friend of his but she had proven him wrong when she would participate in bullying
Tommy just to feel some acceptance within her circle of friends. Kathy had to continue bullying
Tommy because it was what her friends did and if she had not done so, they would question if
she liked Tommy and that was the reason why she was not participating in the fun. When
Kathy was alone with Tommy she would not bully him, she would talk to him as if he were her
friend and she often felt bad about the others teasing Tommy. Therefore if Kathy wanted to
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continue her friendship with her group of friends she would need to participate in bullying
Tommy and having a friendship with him in secret like at the pond.
In todays society there has been many social issues regarding bullying in schools and the
workplace etc. Bullying has reached all time highs causing children to commit suicide to not
wanting to go to school anymore because of the bullying they face daily. In Time Magazine an
article Becoming Popular Can Turn You Into a Target for Bullying by Alice Park stated,
studies have documented how most of the victims of bullying are those who occupy the
lower rungs of the social ladder I believe this is key to understanding where bullying comes
from. Bullying has left kids to feeling unaccepted by todays social standards, which has become
a big issue regarding the way children act in each different surrounding they are in. Having to
feel the need to act different in situations based on the way you may be treated seems to be a way
of protecting oneself from being bullied. When children react differently to social environments
it is because of feeling they will be unaccepted and be bullied for that reason, which in most
cases has proven true. Another example of how an action one does may cause to unaccepted and
lead to bullying is when a popular student goes ahead and does something different like join
band, something that is considered to be out of the ordinary for a popular kid. For the reason that
everyone is always watching what the popular kid does it will be everyone watching and
bullying the popular kid because they did something that wasnt accepted by the popular crowd.
Therefore in any instance when a child acts differently in social environments and does
something that is not expected it leads to not being accepted by those who are considered to be
friends.
Every social environment may lead to different outcomes of behavior by those who feel
they are under watchful eyes like Tommy and Kathy H. whom both have to change the dynamics
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of their friendship to stay friends. The place by the pond shows how by having a discrete
friendship in order to feel acceptance they will lose the meaning of friendship, change to doing
what is expected, and even bully in order to feel acceptance from the crowd. The ways in which
Kathy must change her friendship with Tommy is interesting to read as author of Never Let Me
Go, Kazuo Ishiguro adds how Kathy feels about treating Tommy with disrespect and bullying
him. Kathy H. considered Tommy a friend, but under the circumstance of keeping her popularity
being friends with an outcast was not acceptable so Kathy chose to hide her friendship with
Tommy and talk to him in areas that were more private, like by the pond. Kathy kept her guard
up the entire time when by the pond to make sure no one was able to spot her and Tommy
conversing by the pond. Being accepted has become more valuable than carrying a friendship
that can add more to ones life than acceptance. The dynamics between the pond and the feeling
of wanting to be accepted is very close and shows that Kathy wanting acceptance was more
important.










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Works Cited
Hoder, Randye. "The Surprising Downside of Becoming One of the Cool Kids | TIME." Time.
Time, 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
Ishiguro, Kazuo. "Chapter 3." Never Let Me Go. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. 26. Print.
Park, Alice. "Bullying Targets Popular Kids Too | TIME." Time. Time, 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 02
Apr. 2014.
Rohwer, Susan. "So He Wears a My Little Pony Backpack? Stop 'gender Policing' and Let Kids
Be Kids." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.