In Kazuo Ishiguro’s *Never Let Me Go*, the clones are created to provide organs for donation to naturally born people.
The novel is set in an alternate version of England where cloning and medical technology have reshaped society. Children such as Kathy H., Ruth, and Tommy are raised in institutions including Hailsham, where their origins and predetermined futures are revealed gradually. They are educated and encouraged to create art, but their lives remain organized around the national donation program.
As adults, the clones serve first as carers for donors and later begin donating their own vital organs. After several donations, they are expected to “complete,” the novel’s euphemism for dying. Their fate is not a voluntary act of generosity; it is a system imposed on them from birth.
A common misunderstanding is that Hailsham exists to protect the clones permanently. Miss Emily explains that it was a humane reform experiment intended to demonstrate that clones possessed inner lives and souls. The experiment could not overturn the wider organ-donation system, making the novel’s central horror social and ethical rather than merely technological.