Since the story takes place in isolated places like Hailsham and the Cottages the characters are unable to find out the truth about themselves from the real world, which drives the plot.

No info was provided on physical appearance, picture is from the movie

• Kathy sings along and imagines the song is about a mother afraid of losing her child

• Symbolizes human love and the fear of losing loved ones

• Displays how it is in Kathy's nature to look back at the past and how she refuses to move forward with her life

• Expresses how loss is inevitable and that Kathy's desire to recapture the past is impossible

• Is first seen in a magazine and Ruth decides that is her dream future

• This is seen again when they visit Norfolk in search of Ruth's "possible" who works in the office

• Once they realize the woman is not Ruth's "possible" her dream vanishes

• Symbolizes the diminishing sense of possibility and dreams for the future.

• Turning point where Ruth says what everybody is thinking about where they truly come from

• Her possible could have never been modeled from a woman like the one they saw in the office

• When she says this, it diminishes everyone's hope for a better future

No info was provided on physical appearance, picture is from the movie

No info was provided on physical appearance, picture is from the movie

• The cassette tape with the song “Never Let Me Go” that Kathy listens to and imagines herself holding on to a child

• Kathy and Tommy hold each other in a field after learning that deferrals do not exist

• Kathy is holding onto the past, which is what the entire book is

• Students at Hailsham play make-believe games about the guardians

• Ruth has a dream about working in an open-plan office

• Rumors go around like the one about deferrals that do not really exist

• Kath’s fantasy of Tommy at the field at the end of the book

After learning that the woman in the office is not Ruth's "possible" Tommy attempts to cheer Ruth up and she responds by telling Tommy to "'shut up'" (166). Ruth telling Tommy to "shut up" belittles him and displays the power she has over him. She wants to impress the "veterans" and does so by putting her loved ones down. Later in the novel, Ruth discovers Tommy's theory about deferrals and his drawings and calls him "'sweety'" and asks him not to make a fool of himself (193). In this quote, Ruth uses "sweety" to downgrade him and treat him like a child. Adults have more power over adults and she wants to show that she has more power over him. Ultimately, through the Marxist lens, one learns that one should treat their loved ones well since one never knows when one will lose them