Art

"A lot of the time, how you were regarded at Hailsham, how much you were liked and respected, had to do with how good you were at "creating." pg 16

Art is a big deal at Hailsham. If you are good at art, everyone loves you and looks up to you. If you aren't artistic or creative, then you are made fun of like Tommy. I feel bad for Tommy because it's not his fault he's not a great artist. You cannot exactly force someone to be great at something they are not. We also see the complicated relationship that is Tommy and Kathy. Kathy often feels bad for Tommy since he is made fun of, but then when Kathy talks with him herself, she just gets angry with him, and wonders why she cares. Tommy on the other hand seems to trust [only] Kathy, because he confides in her about what Miss Lucy said to him. The end of the chapter foreshadows that Kathy, thought often annoyed with him, is interested in what Tommy has to say; She admits she worries about him, and she wants to sneak off down to the pond with him. It's confusing.

Also, Kathy's stories are all very interesting, but they lack any sort of order. She starts talking about being nine years old, then switches to at least a decade later when it was a few months after Ruth's first donation. I think Kathy is maintaining a connection of her childhood to her present life. Moments from her childhood remind her of her adult life, like her conversations with Ruth at the hospital when they shared stories about Hailsham. She never forgets about Hailsham and everything that happened there, so the boarding school has a very significant role in the story.