Talajkowski 1 Andy Talajkowski English 129 Professor Mark Seltzer 5 December 2017 Never Let Me Go: The Duality of Sexuality and the Struggle for Existence In Never Let Me Go, sexuality becomes an expression of humanity, as the students of Hailsham strive to define their existence as more than just replicated bodies. Throughout the novel, the students struggle to persist in a world that refuses to see them as fully human, whether they are revealing their souls through art or holding each other so tightly they cannot be overwhelmed by the forces that threaten to consume them. Sexuality is instrumental in their attempts to connect to the outer world, as sex becomes a means of isolating clones from the remainder of the population. While sexual encounters for clones are reduced to mechanical and sterile interactions, relations between outside couples are exalted as emotional and meaningful acts. The students therefore find power in building loving relationships, as it proves they, too, are human. I will argue that sex is manipulated in the world of Never Let Me Go to portray clones as lesser beings, causing the students of Hailsham to use their ability to have intimacy to reinforce their own humanity. Sexual education at Hailsham continually reinforces the students’ identities as clones. Students learn early on that as clones they cannot have children, their forced sterilization stripping their sexual encounters of the significance of childbirth. In lessons, sexual activity is automatized - Miss Emily uses a skeleton model to simulate intercourse, “going through all the nuts and bolts of how you did it, what went in where, the different variations, like this was still