Confucian Ethics and Clone Narratives: Fate and Resistance in Never Let Me Go and Waste Tide

Challenging the dominant Western “free will vs fatalism” binary in clone ethics discourse, this paper employs a cross-cultural analysis of Never Let Me Go and Waste Tide. It argues that the clones' apparent acquiescence in Never Let Me Go transcends passive submission. Instead, it embodies a profound engagement with Eastern philosophies of fate—specifically the Japanese aesthetic of mono no aware and the Confucian view of fate. This acceptance constitutes a modern reinterpretation of reverent acknowledgment of destiny, forming a distinct ethical resource against technological violence. Conversely, Waste Tide's narrative of radical cyborg resistance exposes the traumatic rupture caused by technological colonization within traditional ethical frameworks like Confucian differential ethics. Utilizing close textual analysis and comparative methodology, the study demonstrates how both novels, through their contrasting strategies of poetic acceptance (Never Let Me Go) and violent rebellion (Waste Tide), activate the critical potential of Eastern philosophies to reconstruct Western paradigms of subjectivity and instrumental rationality. It further posits that Confucian differential ethics, when creatively transformed and expanded towards cross-species compassion, offers vital resources for navigating post-human ethical dilemmas and constructing inclusive technological ethics beyond anthropocentrism. This research broadens interpretations of clone narratives, enriches post-human discourse with non-Western perspectives, and reveals the critical relevance of Eastern thought in contemporary technological life politics.