Summary: Chapter 1
Kathy H., the thirty-one-year-old narrator, introduces herself as a “carer.” She explains that she has held this job for almost twelve years, although she will be leaving it in about eight months. Kathy takes pride in her work, noting that the “donors” for whom she cares are rarely agitated and tend to recover quickly after giving donations. As a result, she has gained certain privileges including the opportunity to choose her donors. Kathy says that other carers may resent her for this, especially since she tends to choose donors who attended Hailsham. She explains that this is how she reconnected with her childhood friends Ruth and Tommy. Kathy used to resist the urge to look back on her school days. Then, one of her donors made a bad first donation. In the days before he “completed,” he asked her repeatedly for stories of Hailsham and refused to talk about his own apparently grim childhood. This experience made Kathy realize how lucky she and her friends were to attend Hailsham.
Kathy sees many reminders of her school days while driving around the country, including sports pavilions that look like the one at Hailsham. She recalls an afternoon at Hailsham when she was about twelve years old. In the memory, Kathy is lounging in the Hailsham pavilion with Ruth and a few other girls. The pavilion is a favorite hideout where they can gossip away from the eyes of their “guardians.” Through the window, they watch a group of boys refuse to pick Tommy for a football (soccer) game in order to provoke him into a temper tantrum. The girls gossip about how Tommy has never tried to be creative in their art classes. Meanwhile, Kathy worries that Tommy will ruin his favorite blue polo shirt as he stomps around in the mud. She walks over to Tommy and tries to calm him down, but he continues to flail his arms and accidentally hits her in the face. Kathy points out that his shirt is covered in mud. Tommy brushes off her concern, but then seems to regret it. Kathy returns to her friends, feeling frustrated and aware that the other students are watching her.
Explanation:
Summary: Chapter 2
Kathy continues to recall her childhood at Hailsham. A few days after his tantrum, Tommy stops her on the stairs to apologize for his behavior. Kathy feels embarrassed to be addressed in such a public place, as the stairs are filled with students heading to and from their weekly medical examinations. However, she accepts his apology. The other boys continue to play pranks on Tommy, who responds with more tantrums. One night in the girls’ dormitory, Kathy discusses the situation with Ruth and their other friends. Ruth says that Tommy needs to try harder to be creative if he wants the teasing to stop. She points out that Tommy does not submit anything to the Exchanges, quarterly art exhibitions at which the students can trade their works with one another, and purchase works with school-issued tokens.
Kathy interrupts this memory to explain that students skilled at “creating” generally earned the most respect from their peers at Hailsham, a phenomenon encouraged by the Exchanges. She adds that Tommy’s struggle with creativity began years earlier in art class, when he made an intentionally childish watercolor of an elephant to get the other students to laugh. Unaware that this was purposeful, the sympathetic guardian Miss Geraldine praised his efforts instead of scolding him. After that incident, the other students started to mock Tommy’s artistic efforts. Kathy believes that Tommy tried briefly to improve, but soon began exaggerating the childish quality of his pictures to cover up his lack of ability. He also started throwing tantrums in response to the teasing from his classmates. Kathy’s memories return to the aftermath of the football incident. Although the pranks continue, Tommy suddenly stops losing his temper. The other boys lose interest in teasing him, and start to include him in their games. Puzzled, Kathy finds Tommy in the lunch line and asks about his new attitude. Tommy attributes it to the guardian Miss Lucy, who recently told him that he did not have to be creative if he did not want to be. Kathy thinks this is a joke and walks away angrily. Tommy promises to explain, and asks her to meet him at the pond after lunch.
