Hope

Ishiguro's outlook on hope is highly conflicted. It may make people feel better and allow them to live "decent lives"; the clones are happier at the Cottages because they have the idea that they can apply for deferrals if they wish, a rumor that Miss Emily allows to exist because it gives people hope. Nevertheless, in the novel's universe, hope only comes from falsehoods and delusions, from Kathy's hope that Ruth will break up with Tommy, to the illusive hope offered by the imagined deferral program.