Reversing the Role of Freak

Throughout the novel Never Let Me Go, I actually found it quite hard to imagine the clone characters as "freaks" at all. Perhaps it is because the perspective is first person, making it all too easy to relate to Kathy and and her struggles. It is perhaps a typical argument, but I found that throughout the novel the clones' struggles suited to make them more relate-able as real "people".

For instance, Ruth and Kathy's pretend play underscores their normalcy, as pretend play fosters children's' creativity and role models future adult behaviors and relationships. That they can conceive of a future with relating to people and taking care of objects (possessions, pets, people, etc.) is something we as people can naturally sympathize with. Or when Ruth has trouble fitting in at the cottages, she tries to take on the behaviors of her seniors; the clones, even being aware of their fate in their late teens, still strive to find companionship and a place for themselves, which is also something most people can relate to (minus the clone part).

Not that relating is the only point. Even if a person can't relate to the individuals or the circumstances, the basic human principles of finding oneself and being a part of something are there, thus, making it hard for me to see their "freakishness" throughout the story. In fact I find it the cleverest way to force the reader to realize instead to our own true human freakishness for creating something so like us (well, exactly like us in some cases!) and then proceeding to outcast it from society and label it "weird" and a "freak".