humanity beyond simple biology , and consider what it is that truly makes us ‘ human .’ 47 If , as anthropologist Christian Smith argues , the definition of humanity cannot be reduced merely to our physical make-up , then it surely follows that the characters in these texts are not inherently ‘ posthuman ’ because of their genetic make-up or voluntary donation of vital human organs . 48 Thus , what anthropologists believe truly makes us ‘ human ’ — our unique emotional responses to stimuli — remains ever present in these characters , with the leaders of organ donation schemes manipulating the very thing that makes characters human to convince them that they are something ‘ other ,’ and therefore something ‘ posthuman .’ 49
Texts use selective truth-telling to place characters in a state I am labelling ‘ non-consensual consent .’ In Never Let Me Go , Miss Lucy finally informs Hailsham students that they have been ‘ told but not told ,’ which perfectly sums up the knowledge level of the residents of both Hailsham and Riverdale . 50 Upon learning the truth , Kathy tellingly expresses the belief that if she ’ d ‘ thought about it with half a brain ’ she ’ d have figured out the true purpose of Hailsham long before Miss Lucy told them . 51 Whilst this is sometimes used as a common figure of speech , the underlying implication here that she has only half a brain suggests that Kathy views herself as ‘ otherly .’ According to Althusser ’ s theory of hegemonic states , Kathy ’ s continued belief in her position as ‘ other ’ and relationship to the world only through what Hailsham has told her is key to Hailsham continuing to control her long after she leaves the school . Althusser argues that hegemonies are representative of ‘ the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence .’ 52 When Althusser ’ s theory is applied , it seems Kathy continues to consent to her roles as ‘ carer ’ and ‘ donor ’ even once she is aware of other possibilities in the world because she has been raised to believe that she is only able to survive and plan for a future with these specific purposes . These are the conditions of her existence .
47
Tonia L . Payne , ‘“ We are Dirt , We are Earth ”: Ursula de Guinn and the Problem of Extraterrestrialism ’ in Nature in Literary Cultural Studies : Transatlantic Conversations of Ecocriticism , eds . Catrin Gersdorf and Sylvia Mayer . ( Amsterdam , Rodopi , 2006 ), 247
48
Christian Smith , What is a Person ? Rethinking Humanity , Social Life , and the Moral Good from the Person Up , Chicago : University of Chicago Press , 2011 , 36-38
49
Andrew Beatty , ‘ Anthropology and Emotion ,’ The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute . 20 ( 3 ) ( 2014 ), 546
50
Ishiguro , Never Let Me Go , 81
51
Ibid , 92
52
Louis Althusser , ‘ Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses ( Notes Towards an Investigation )’, in The Anthropology of the State : A Reader , eds . Aradhana Sharma and Akhil Gupta ( Oxford : Blackwell Publishing , 2009 ), 100