Never Let Me Go: 19

" 'You speak to them. It's you they've come to speak to.'
'I suppose it is' " (255).

Once again, the author leaves readers in suspense going into chapter 22. Throughout the talk of deferrals, it has been implied that Madame was the person with the power. However, we are now confronted with the fact that it is not Madame but Miss Emily. The author has Madame let the children explain their reason for coming to her and their theories about the Gallery before Miss Emily emerges because he wanted to build up the suspense. The suspense is also effective because it throws yet another curve ball into this world that we keep learning more about. This is also and example of situational irony because the children and readers are led to believe that Madame created the Gallery to grant deferrals when, in reality, Miss Emily seems to be the one to grant deferrals. The suspense and situational irony work well together to produce a feeling of unknown going into the next chapter. They are both effective because readers are drawn into the action even more and are anxious to see what comes next.