Suspense: Never Let Me Go

"I was still looking into the darkness when I heard Madame let out a kind of snort, and she came striding past us into the dark... Madame emerged pushing a figure in a wheelchair...It was the voice more than anything that helped me recognize her. 'Miss Emily,' Tommy said, quite softly" (255).

This scene creates much suspense right until the point where Tommy speaks Miss Emily's name. The reader waits for the arrival of this person in the wheelchair, anticipating the moment when the person's identity is revealed. From the time that Madame goes into the darkness until Tommy says Miss Emily's name, the reader wonders who could possibly be living in Madame's house. The suspense is all part of the emotions that the reader shares with the characters. The author chose not to immediately reveal who was in the wheelchair; instead, he allows time for the suspense to build and for the reader to question the person's identity. The characters were feeling the same anticipation, waiting for Madame to emerge from the darkness. The suspense is effective, creating more curiosity about the situation. The reader wonders why Miss Emily would be in the house, and why Madame brought her out while Tommy and Kathy asked about the deferrals. With the arrival of Miss Emily, the characters and the reader feel even more uncertain about the upcoming events. This suspense is the perfect precursor to Miss Emily's explanation of Kathy and Tommy's life at Hailsham since the suspense about their lives has been building throughout the novel.