The first and second covers are both bright while the third and fourth covers are darker. The first cover and second cover also both have a girl on the cover. The fourth cover has what looks to be a human with some organs outlined. The first and second cover are intended to portray Kathy and her friends as humans, while the fourth cover more defines them as the whole of their parts, not simply a human. I think the intended purpose of the first cover is just to characterize the main character, Kathy, and give a face to the name so that the reader feels more connected to her as a human. The second cover has a similar purpose: the girl dancing makes her seem very human and innocent, which makes the reader sympathize with her. The purpose of the second cover is to show a desolate land that represents the dystopia in the novel. There is obviously something wrong in this landscape, and it is a dark and sickly color. Cover four is intended to show the purpose of Kathy and her friends, to be organ donors. The cover is very dark and scary-looking. I think this is to set the mood for the novel.
Cover 4:
(https://www.behance.net/gallery/1613117/Never-Let-Me-Go-(book-cover))
The first words that come to mind are organs, autopsy, dead, harsh, and wicked. It’s obvious that the figure on the cover is human, but with very negative connotations. The head and arms are cut off, which makes the figure look like a gory murder victim. If I hadn’t read any of the novel, I honestly would probably stay away from it. This cover makes the book look like it belongs in the horror genre. Now that I’ve read some of the novel, the cover seems very fitting. I think that the barbed wire and faded bars around the body signifies the inescapable life that has been set out for Kathy and the other clones. They have been created to donate organs, which is represented through the distorted drawing of organs on the body. I think that the rest of the body is not shown/cut off because it is useless to the society. They only need the clones’ vital organs, and any other part of their bodies have no use in their society. The viewpoint of this cover is from the people who decided to create clones for use by regular people. As stated earlier, the only purpose for these beings is to take their organs. The creators of the clones will not see the intellectual capital or emotional capacity of the clones. The people who would read this probably are interested in the science fiction genre, because the figure on the cover resembles a human but there is obviously something out of order. I think the cover is very fitting for the plot of the book, however the book portrays a much darker mood than what I have read so far. So far, it’s evident that this is a dystopia, but the day to day lives of the clones are not bad at all, not anything like what you would expect from looking at the cover. The cover makes them seem like slaves who are suffering, which may surface later on in the novel.
Cover 2:
(http://www.patricktreardon.com/book-review-never-let-me-go-by-kazuo-ishiguro/)
The first words that come to mind when I look at this cover are dancing, child, playful, and light. The cover is most likely displaying the scene in the book where Kathy is dancing with her pillow to the cassette tape she has. If I hadn’t read any of the book, I would think that the book might be about a young girl and her life. The bright colors on the book make it look like it would have a light tone. Now that I’ve read part of the book, I understand the context of this cover. Kathy is being portrayed here, and it is most likely from the viewpoint of Madame. When Kathy is dancing to the cassette tape, Madame sees her and starts crying. I think that this was because she was sad that Kathy will never have the life of a normal human. So while the cover makes her look like a happy, healthy young girl, we know that Kathy is actually a clone who has a very dark and devastating life ahead of her. The cover does remind me of the ignorance of the clones in the book. It seems to be that they don’t even know that their life is a sad one. They are aware of their job in the society, but don’t know what makes them so different than everyone else. The cover signifies the ignorance within the book. I do think the cover is misleading if you don’t know anything about the plot. It definitely doesn’t look like a science fiction book.
