Never Let Me Go 13

"Let's have a bit of fun pretending." -pg. 166

The example above is a paradox. A paradox is an apparent contradiction that somehow reveals a little truth. The contradiction is the "fun" and "pretending". Those words don't have the same connotation. Fun has good connotation, and pretending is not a good thing. This paradox is very effective in that way. Contradicting two opposite words makes you realize how wrong the statement is. The paradox is effective because the students, while roaming around town, were actually trying to have fun while pretending Ruth's possible was really a "possible". While the statement sounds as if it is nonsense, it has loads of truth in it. The students pretended that a successful office worker was able to be Ruth's possible. However, possibles are probably not that successful in real life. The purpose of the paradox was to make the reader realize the foolishness of their outing into town.