The Gift of Life:A Posthumanist Critique of Organ Donation in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go
Abstract
humanist interpretations that emphasize mortality and love, this paper argues that the so-called "gift of life" is merely techno-capitalist reifica
tion, reducing clones to disposable bio-resources. Drawing on cyborg theory, gift economy critique and posthumanist ethics, it reveals how
donation discourse disguises biopolitical exploitation under altruistic rhetoric. It further examines the agency of posthuman figures such as
Kathy and Klara, whose subjective experiences challenge their reduction to mere tools and affirm their ethical status. The paper then proposes
a posthuman ethics of "dynamic reconciliation" that transcends anthropocentrism and advocates symbiotic human-technology coexistence.
Through close reading and theoretical analysis, this paper enriches posthumanist literary criticism by critiquing biopolitical violence, and im
agining an alternative ethical order.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.70711/rcha.v4i3.9316
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