Revelations

"We took away your art because we thought it would reveal you souls. Or to put it more freely, we did it to prove you had souls at all." pg 260

Chapter twenty-two is just full of revelations to the reader. First of all, we know for sure that deferrals do not exist. They were simply just a rumor that Hailsham students made up somewhere along the line, because it gave them hope. Secondly, the Gallery and artwork was emphasized at Hailsham because it proved the students had souls (above quote). The people outside of Hailsham believed that the children there had no souls, because they were clones raised to donate organs, and Madame and Miss Emily worked to prove them wrong by creating the Gallery.

We also learn that Hailsham closed because of James Morningdale, a man who tried to create an entire generation of genetically engineered children (sounds a lot like Brave New World...)--which was a little too far for the public to accept. Also, Miss Lucy left because her views were too different from the other guardians- she wanted to let the children know everything while the other guardians wanted them to be sheltered. And finally, Madame said she cried when seeing Kathy dancing to "Never Let Me Go" because she imagined a young girl holding onto the world, never wanting to let it go.

This entire chapter would be considered the falling action in the story because everything is revealed to the reader, and most of the mysteries from early on are solved. Everything falls into place, even if it's not the way that Tommy and Kathy expected it would.