Maintaining Innocence- 6

"And that's why, years and years later, that day Tommy and I found another copy of that lost tape of mine in a town on the Norfolk coast, we didn't just think it pretty funny; we both felt deep down some tug, some old wish to believe again in something that was once close to our hearts." (Never Let Me Go, page 67)


Kathy references Norfolk a lot in this chapter, and it is definitely a symbol.  Norfolk isn't just a county in England that Miss Emily didn't have pictures of. Norfolk wasn't even just a "lost corner." It was a mysterious destination that Kathy and the other children could only imagine about. I think Norfolk is a symbol for the children's innocence. They are stuck in Hailsham and have no contact with the outside world. They can only invent ideas of what they think exists outside of Hailsham. Norfolk was like a common bond for them. It wasn't only and inside joke of where lost things went, but it was a place that reminded them of their childhood.


I think Norfolk is a little like Narnia in the book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Narnia isn't just a place of the children's imagination. It was a symbol of innocence and childhood. It was a place where they discovered what kind of person they wanted to be. It was a place where they faced their deepest fears. Real or not, it was a place important in their hearts.