Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro is a novel set in a science-advanced world. Klara, an Artificial Friend and solar-powered robot, who serves as a friend for a girl named Josie. As Klara progresses from her shop to her life among humans and integrating with them, she learns more about human interactions regarding love and advances her own emotions.
Throughout the book, the main motif that occurs throughout the book is love. Love is looked fondly upon throughout the book. Yet, Ishiguro does not take love as something that is always positive—most instances of love in the novel are failures or have many flaws in them. This is first hinted at in the beginning of the novel when Klara is only able to observe humans. One day at the window display, Klara sees the “Coffee Cup Lady” meet the “Raincoat Man,” two people assumed to be long ago lovers, but meet one another by chance in front of the shop. Although there is deep love kindled by this meeting, the manager of Klara’s store states, “at special moments like that, people feel pain alongside their happiness.” Love is passion and consists of deeply affectionate feelings, but is also imperfect.
This idea also is clearly shown with Josie’s mother and Rick’s mother, two people who have failed in their relationships in love. When Josie’s mother, called Mother by Klara, and Josie meet Josie’s father Paul, Mother does not feel comfortable around her ex-husband and feels protective of Josie from Paul. Similarly, when Rick’s mother Miss Helen meets her former lover in order to help Rick enter a good college, there is only hate and hurt that arise from the conversation they have. Still, both women remember more of the positives of their past relationship than the hurt they received and gave, sometimes experiencing regret for not doing better in their relationships, ending and reflecting their relationships on a more positive note.
One relationship that shows the progression is Josie’s and Rick’s. Josie and Rick are two young adults in which their love is intense but unsmooth, like a romantic movie, but similar to a normal couple. Both characters care for each other and support each other in hard times. They sometimes have disagreeing opinions for each other, such as their large argument of each other’s thoughts in their “bubble” game, but still resolve them quickly due to their more emotional and affectionate feelings for one another. And like most young couples, the love that keeps Josie and Rick together is tied by an uncertain plan they have, but is one without any clear details or clear obligations. However, once Josie and Rick determine their own futures as adults (Josie going to college and Rick exploring what he desires), their plan is fully realized as a fantasy and their love that was once “real” and “everlasting” does not connect them anymore. Rick does tell Klara that his love for Josie will be with him forever, when he is choosing for a new partner in life and further, proving that the love is still “everlasting” but no longer tangible.
Klara observes love in its best and at its end from an outside perspective, ironically, in a very humane way. She is often considered a bystander, due to her lower status as an Artificial Friend (AI) and not human. Yet, Klara has a deep sense of understanding for many of the characters and the relationships she sees and see them in a more emotional context. Klara easily grasps that love, evident in the relationships around her, is a complex emotion as it brings joy and pain to both partners. Klara herself expresses an emotion similar to love to her companion Josie, who is sick due to being “lifted” (assumed by readers as being genetically enhanced), becomes better. Because of Josie’s constant weakness, Klara relies on the Sun as a God (Klara believes the Sun is the solution to all because she is solar-powered) to make Josie better. However, it is unclear whether Klara truly feels the emotion of love that she sees around her or just serves Josie as a robot? Klara does not go through pain or hardship that others go through in love, but Klara tries to find a solution not mathematically or scientifically, but in a religious way. It is evident that Klara does feel some sort of emotion similar to love, but she is unable to fully reach the potential of those feelings.
Klara observes love in its best and at its end from an outside perspective, ironically, in a very humane way. She is often considered a bystander, due to her lower status as an Artificial Friend (AI) and not human. Yet, Klara has a deep sense of understanding for many of the characters and the relationships she sees and does not see them in algorithms but in a more emotional context. Klara easily grasps that love, evident in the relationships around her, is a complex one as it brings joy and pain to both partners. Klara herself expresses an emotion similar to love to her companion Josie, who is sick due to being “lifted” (assumed by readers as being genetically enhanced), becomes better. Because of Josie’s constant weakness, Klara relies on the Sun as a God (Klara believes the Sun is the solution to all because she is solar-powered) to make Josie better. However, it is unclear whether Klara truly feels the emotion of love that she sees around her or just serves Josie as a robot? Klara does not go through pain or hardship that others go through in love, but Klara tries to find a solution not mathematically or scientifically, but in a religious way. It is evident that Klara does feel some sort of emotion similar to love, but she is unable to fully reach the potential of those feelings.
Overall, I thought it was very interesting that love, in a science fiction book, was the main theme. It was touching that Klara grew, and soon died, similar to a human life. I am hopeful to read more of Kazuo Ishiguro’s works.
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