Originals vs Donors in Never Let Me Go

Question

In Never Let Me Go (2010), I didn't completely understand the concept of 'Originals' and 'Donors'. In my opinion, 'Originals' would be the humans who are living 'normally' on Earth and 'Donors' would be the humans who are modeled after some specific 'Originals'.

What is the age when the donations start and are the donated organs used by the donor's original or are these organs used by originals without tracing the specificity of the donor (For example, Ruth's organ may not have been used by her original)?

I'm aware that the movie is based on the novel of the same name written by Kazuo Ishiguro. I haven't read the novel and thus I would appreciate if someone who has read the novel could highlight the differences, if any, between the novel and the movie if required with respect to the answers desired or the questions asked.

Answer 1

You've basically asked two questions. I'll try to answer both;

Are "donors" assigned to individual "originals"?

In contrast to 'Parts : The Clonus Story' and 'The Island' (where clones are bred for the specific use of wealthy donors) it seems like the donors in 'Never Let Me Go' are simply being bred for spare parts for the general population. By the end of the film there are only "a couple" of centres left which Ruth describes as being "like battery farms" yet despite this, Madame suggests that almost no-one suffers from cancer any more ("[it] used to kill almost everyone. Now it kills no one at all).

Clearly there can't be millions of clones at just two centres, no matter how large the centres or how confined the conditions.

What age do people start donating?

Miss Lucy tells her charges at Hailsham that;

"Before you are old, before you are even middle-aged, you will start to donate your vital organs.

Later in the film, Kathy (identified by the script as "aged twenty six") sees her school-friend Ruth in the hospital, having conducted her "second round of donations". It therefore seems likely that donating (and completing) can take place as early as 24-25 years of age.