Miss Emily is the head guardian of Hailsham. She rules the grounds with a firm but fair temperament. Miss Emily is careful as to the information that she provides to students, she shelters them from the horrors of the world and the futures of the clones as she believes that it is best for their wellbeing. As the person responsible for Hailsham, she aims to showcase the humanity of clones, and compel others to treat them as such. She does this through a variety of methods, most prominently by designing the curriculum so that students are raised to be creative and this ensures the success of her invention, the gallery, to which she sends the best student artworks to garner public funding for Hailsham.
In her final conversation with the now adult Kathy and Tommy, Miss Emily explains to them the inner workings of Hailsham and the gallery, something that she once attempted to shelter from them. Although she denies them a deferral (as it does not exist), she encourages the pair to be thankful for the life they were able to lead. She hints that a lot of clones were not as lucky as them, and underwent many horrors throughout their lives. It is not depicted extensively in the novel, but Miss Emily explains to Tommy and Kathy that her work for Hailsham was for the intention of encouraging the humane treatment of clones, despite her admitting that she still fears them somewhat.
