I found myself excited to read this poem. After looking at the title, for some reason it interested me.
While studying this poem, I found a lot of imagery. However, after reading the poem a second time, I realized that all of the imagery had to do with hearing and there was no sight involved. With sight usually being the most prevalent sense expressed in imagery in poems, I knew the author had to have a specific purpose for excluding it. The lines of imagery "like a Drum-kept beating" and "mourners to and fro kept treading" allowed me to visualize what was taking place: a funeral. I think the author excluded the sense of sight because the speaker is the participant in the funeral. He or she is being buried, hence "and then I heard them lift a Box". Also, the funeral is taking place inside of her/his brain; therefore, she/he can't see what is taking place. The speaker is going insane, "and then a Plank in Reason, broke" and feels like a part of her/his soul is dying. The author's use of the imagery of sound allows the reader to understand where the speaker is coming from.
"I could see several loose sheets of dark, shiny paper scattered over the table in front of her. She herself was leaning over in concentration, forehead very low, arms up on the surface, scrawling furious lines over a page with a pencil." (Never Let Me Go, page 91).
Imagery is present in this passage. The reader can completely visualize a frantic Miss Lucy and also shares the feeling of confusion with Kathy. I think imagery is effective because it allows the reader to create a vivid image of what is taking place in the story. The author's descriptiveness helps give insight to the character of Miss Lucy. She seems like an introvert. She keeps to herself but seems to have a lot of built up anger.
I think the relationships between the students and the guardians are very interesting. They are a lot like normal student-teacher relationships. However, I do feel like there is a barrier between the two because of the fact that the students are unable to produce children and were created to be donors alone. I think Miss Lucy shall become more of an instrumental character in the future.
