Litote

"'It's not so bad now,' she said, even though the rain was as steady as ever." - Never Let Me Go, page 81.

After explaining to the children what there futures were going to be like, Miss Lucy said to them, "It's not so bad now."  This is a wonderful example of a litote.  The reason she said this was to sort of lighten the mood after she had pretty much just told them they were never going to have normal lives.  She also made it clear that they could just expect to never travel or have regular jobs.  She tried to make the situation with the rain more positive by understating the situation and negating the negative part of it.  By doing this, she both changed the subject and lightened the mood.  It was a weak attempt, though, because I am sure the students didn't just forget about the conversation.  In fact, Kathy explains how much later in their lives when Ruth was in her donation periods, they talked about the time when Miss Lucy gave them her speech.  I think Miss Lucy was a bit wrong in getting angry with they system and telling the kids off like that, though.  For one, maybe the reason for why they were hardly told anything was because the guardians knew that if the children knew everything, they would probably become depressed or act out.  The futures that are already set for these kids are horrible and disgusting and so maybe the guardians are just trying to protect them by waiting until the right time to explain their purposes on this earth.