Klara and the Sun

“Then the mother said: ‘B2, third series. The ones with the solar absorption problems, right?’ She said it just like that, in front of Rex, her smile still on her face. Rex kept smiling too, but the child looked baffled and glanced from Rex to her mother.”

Right away, Klara reveals the AF’s capacity for feelings. She is surprised that the parent would say such a hurtful thing about an AF’s power supply in front of him. Because she has not been trained to treat AF as machines, the child also worries that her parent’s comments might hurt Rex.

“‘Sometimes,’ she said, ‘at special moments like that, people feel a pain alongside their happiness. I’m glad you watch everything so carefully, Klara.’” 

There are several reunions in Klara and the Sun. Some are happy, some are bitter, and some are both. Across the novel, Ishiguro emphasizes the complexity and irrationality of human emotions. As a uniquely capable AF, Klara is able to analyze the combinations with remarkable accuracy.

“The Sun was pouring his nourishment onto the street and into the buildings, and when I looked over to the spot where Beggar Man and the dog had died, I saw they weren’t dead at all—that a special kind of nourishment from the Sun had saved them.” 

Klara feels good when the sun is out and is fretful when it gets cloudy. When she sees the beggar and his dog waking up as the sun starts to shine, she concludes that the sun has revived them. This marks the beginning of Klara’s faith in the sun’s healing powers.

“Every Artificial Friend is unique, right?” 

The AFs are designed to be friends to children and therefore are somehow programmed to have unique personalities. The inclusion of this detail begs several questions about the universe of the novel. It is possible that Klara’s superlative observational skill is a bug instead of a feature. It is equally possible that other AFs do not worship the sun.

“It remains hard not to believe Melania Housekeeper was opposed from the start to my presence. Although I behaved towards her with consistent politeness, and especially in the first days, tried to do small things to please her, she never returned my smiles, or spoke to me other than to issue an instruction or reprimand.” 

Many characters demonstrate prejudice, cruelty, or indifference toward Klara and other AFs. At the end of the novel, Mr. Capaldi references a growing movement of suspicious humans. Melania, Rick, and Paul all grow to appreciate Klara, eventually confiding in her after a period of suspicion. In the world of Klara and the Sun, readers can assume that AFs are not universally accepted.

“The sky from the bedroom window was far larger than the gap of sky at the store—and capable of surprising variations. Sometimes it was the color of the lemons in the fruit bowl, then could turn to the gray of the slate chopping boards. When Josie wasn’t well, it could turn the color of her vomit or her pale feces, or even develop streaks of blood.” 

For Klara, the sun and Josie’s health are inextricably linked. Klara makes visual connections based on a system of internal reasoning that seems obvious to her and bizarre to the reader. To demonstrate the power and mystery of faith, Ishiguro never clearly answers whether Klara’s faith and observations are true or coincidental.

“‘Did his folks just…decide not to go ahead? Lose their nerve?” 

One of the mothers at the interaction meeting makes an insensitive comment about Helen, and Chrissy reprimands her. However, she agrees later in the novel that opting for the lifting procedure is a matter of “nerve.” In wealthy and well-connected circles, not having your child lifted has a stigma of cowardice, despite the serious risk involved.

“I can see Rick is afraid Josie might become like the others. But even though she behaved strangely just now, I believe Josie is kind underneath. And those other children. They have rough ways, but they may not be so unkind. They fear loneliness and that’s why they behave as they do. Perhaps Josie too.”

Klara’s purpose is to prevent loneliness, and she therefore understands many human emotions and actions in relation to the fear of loneliness. She uses her understanding of this fear to explain moments when children and adults lash out or take foolish, drastic actions. For the most part, her analysis is correct.

“I believe I have many feelings. The more I observe, the more feelings become available to me.” 

Like many other works of science fiction, Klara and the Sun questions the line between human and artificial intelligence. Klara shares with Chrissy that the more she learns, the deeper her ability to feel. Ishiguro pushes the reader to question whether this would also be an accurate description of human learning.

“I could understand that for all his kindness, the Sun was very busy; that there were many people besides Josie who required his attention; that even the Sun could be expected to miss individual cases like Josie.” 

Klara never calls her requests of the sun “prayers,” but they are formulated and delivered as such. Though based on her experiences and logical conclusions, the concerns she has about the sun’s anger or satisfaction are still blind guesses. She believes in the sun’s omniscience but prays anyway, as a demonstration of her faith.

“Until recently, I didn’t think that humans could choose loneliness. That there were sometimes forces more powerful than the wish to avoid loneliness.” 

Because of her design, her observations, or both, Klara identifies loneliness as a root cause of human action and desire. She learns from Helen, however, that there are fears that might be stronger than the fear of loneliness. Moreover, there may be forces which allow individuals to accept loneliness.

“You keep saying it’s important. Important for Josie. So yes, I’d like to help.” 

When Rick helps carry Klara to Mr. McBain’s barn without fully understanding her goal, he is putting his faith in her, inspired by her hope. Paul does the same when Klara asks him to help her sabotage the Cootings Machine. This reflects the importance of faith to the characters, even if they do not always comprehend the implications of that faith.

“There’s nothing there. Nothing inside Josie that’s beyond the Klaras of this world to continue. The second Josie won’t be a copy. She’ll be the exact same and you’ll have every right to love her just as you love Josie now. It’s not faith you need. Only rationality.” 

Mr. Capaldi tells Chrissy to “have faith” in his project. However, in the same meeting he tells her that she needs rationality, not faith, because rationality proves there is a limit to the substance of a human. If Klara represents faith in the human soul, Mr. Capaldi represents the technological society that crushes it.

“I came through it with Sal, but I can’t do it again […]. So I’m asking you, Klara. Do your best for me […]. If you set your mind to it, then who knows? It might work. And I’ll be able to love you.” 

Chrissy originally buys Klara as a means to an end. She is courteous to her in the beginning but dismisses her capacity to feel. After the meeting with Mr. Capaldi, she tells Klara she may be able to love her if she becomes Josie, but this never happens. Josie recovers, and Chrissy loves Klara anyway.

“‘Hope,’ he said. ‘Damn thing never leaves you alone.’”

Paul may appear to treat hope as a last resort rather than a guiding light. But his hope and motivation also come from his love for Josie and, indirectly, Chrissy. Paul believes that Chrissy will never truly accept an AF Josie and that her recovery is the only possible option.

“It’s just that you did say you were all white people and all from the ranks of the former professional elites. You did say that. And that you were having to arm yourselves quite extensively against other types. Which does all sound a little on the fascistic side…” 

In the world of Klara and the Sun, workplace substitution has resulted in a class of disgruntled ex-professionals. Instead of egalitarianism, technological advancement has resulted in tribalistic conflict. This can be read as a warning against scientific optimism and the belief that technology will necessarily improve humanity.

“I don’t wish to create unwarranted hope. But from what I observed I believe Mr Vance will decide to help Rick.” 

Klara’s expertise in analyzing complex emotions is particularly useful at the end of Helen and Vance’s meeting. Despite his anger and antagonism, Vance betrays that he still has feelings for Helen. Despite everything, he still wants to help her and Rick.

“‘But who says I’m lonely? I’m not lonely.’ ‘Perhaps all humans are lonely. At least potentially.’” 

Klara’s key to understanding human motivation is that loneliness itself is less of a factor than the fear of loneliness. Humans are “potentially” lonely and will go to great lengths to avoid the potential being realized. Josie herself is not lonely, because Rick, Klara, and her family cares for and about her.

“She was trying to…offer something, I guess. She said she could give up her job and stay with me the whole time. If I wanted that.”

When Josie’s illness takes a turn for the worst, Chrissy offers to quit her job and spend the rest of Josie’s days together. This is one of many sacrifices and offers of sacrifice in the novel, and it represents Chrissy’s devotion to Josie. Sacrifice as an expression of love is one of the book’s most important themes.

“You must tell me if the love between Rick and Josie is genuine, if it’s a true and lasting one. I must know this. Because if the answer is yes, then I’ll have something to bargain with, regardless of what occurred in the city. So please think carefully, Rick, and tell me the truth.” 

Klara sacrifices the Cootings Machine, but Josie is still sick. Klara believes in the goodness of the sun, and that the sun approved of the loving reunion of Coffee Cup Lady and Raincoat Man. The highest cause Klara can think of is the love and potential love shared by innocent children, so she approaches the sun with a new plea. Klara is always truthful, and she wants to make sure that her appeal is completely genuine.

“Perhaps the Sun may ask, ‘How can we be sure? What can children know about genuine love?’ But I’ve been observing them carefully, and I’m certain it’s true.” 

Ironically, Josie and Rick’s love is the most stable and mature of any couple in Klara and the Sun. They make a promise to be together, they talk through their problems even after they hurt each other, and they look out for each other’s well-being. Even as they grow apart, Rick and Josie care for each other’s happiness. They want the best for one another and accept their different paths precisely because their love is strong and true.

“From the moment I first held her, everything about her told me she was hungry for life. The whole world excited her. That’s how I knew from the start I couldn’t deny her the chance.” 

In a bitter tirade aimed at Rick, Chrissy justifies her choice to lift Josie as an act of love and courage. This is because Josie was such a curious and vivacious infant. While Chrissy seems to be telling the truth, her exclamation also comes from a place of deep guilt.

“She’s very grateful you’re her mother and she never once wished for any other. […] She wants you to know she wouldn’t wish it any other way. If she had the power to do it again, and this time it was up to her, she says she’d do exactly what you did and you’ll always be the best mother she could have.” 

Rick responds to Chrissy’s cruel outburst with grace. He shares Josie’s message, aimed at assuaging her mother’s guilt and giving her closure. Again, both Rick and Josie prove to have a profoundly mature and wise grasp on love and mortality, while the adults flounder.

“Even so, such composite memories have sometimes filled my mind so vividly, I’ve forgotten for long moments that I am, in reality, sitting here in the Yard, on this hard ground.” 

Klara’s memory and perception fade in the last years of her life, spent alone and immobile in a junkyard. Ishiguro again blurs the line between human and android by presenting an android in “old age,” exhibiting cognitive and physical decline, much like a human. Unlike many humans, Klara is content to be alone with her memories.