Robot stories can, if well-written, get you to feel for the
robot and tug at your heartstrings. Asimov did it. Bradbury did it. Kazuo
Ishiguro, being a Nobel laureate, certainly has the writing credentials, and his novel Klara and the Sun, does not disappoint.
We meet Klara and her friend Rosa on display in a shop. We
are never explicitly told they are robots. They are referred to as AFs which we
eventually learn means Artificial Friends. These robots are intended as
companions for children of rather well-to-do families. We see the world through
Klara’s eyes. In the beginning that world consists of the interior of the store
and what little that can be seen out the display window (when they are lucky
enough to be on display). I found myself reminded of stories about orphans. Just as children
in an orphanage pine for the day when the right couple will come and give them
a forever home, so the AF’s wait for the child who will make a connection with
them and take them home. It is made clear that some AFs, just like some orphans, never find a home.
Klara is a keen observer of humanity. She makes
conclusions about her observations. Many of those conclusions are spot on,
others, while they seem logical to her, do not pan out. Based on her own
observations, she invents her own supernatural belief system. She is not trying
to invent a religion, it just sort of springs logically from what she has seen.
She is solar powered; she sees people outside who enjoy themselves and even
seem healthier while the sun is out. Therefore, the sun must give them
nourishment too. Therefore, the sun must be the giver of life. While this may
be a flawed conclusion, it gives her something to hang on to when things get
dark.
Eventually, Klara connects with a child, is taken home, and
the two have a wonderful relationship. But all is not well in the new home. Her
new friend Josie has an illness that her mother fears may one day take her
life. Josie, her mother, and Josie’s best friend are all affected by Josies illness.
Klara is too. She pursues a plan to make Josie well and bring harmony into the
home. Her plan is developed using her brand of logic. Josie’s mother also has a
plan using her own brand of logic. We readers may scoff at Klara’s naïve plan, but
we like the mother’s plan even less.
Klara comes to see a whole host of human emotions, joy, love,
guilt, grief, hope, pride, gratitude, anger. We see her absorbing these things,
finding a kind of understanding about them. In the end, Klara does not turn
into a human, literally or figuratively, but she has her own kind of wisdom. There is sheer beauty in Klara. She is a character that we care about. Like any character, she can teach us
something about the human condition.
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