Summary
The group of the Mother, Josie, Klara, Miss Helen, and Rick head into the city to a Friend’s apartment. The Mother and Josie are visibly nervous, and Josie is annoyed that her father is late, per usual. Klara, for her part, is looking for the Cootings Machine and does not see it. Miss Helen and Rick leave them.
Finally the Father arrives. Josie tells Klara that she’ll like him even though he is a dork. The Father is tall with a stooping gait, and once he comes in the room gives Josie a huge and enthusiastic hug. He looks at Klara and then looks away without saying anything, closing his eyes and embracing his daughter. The Mother watches, unsmiling. The Father gives Josie a little mirror he made that shows how people actually look, not the other way around. They continue to talk about it and laugh together, then talk about her tutor and shared memories.
Josie draws his attention to Klara, and he drops his smile and says hello. The Mother says they need to move along, so they depart. Josie looks out the window as they drive, and Klara listens to her parents. The Father wonders why she is still working where she is, and she says she knows what happened to him is angering but she still has to work because she need to pay the bills. The Father claims he is happy about the “substitutions” that happened, and she scoffs that that is impossible, as he was very talented. He replies that they gave him a better understanding of the world and now he lives with a bunch of people who feel the same way as he does, and they all agree they are better off now.
They edge past what was Klara’s old store, which no longer has any AFs in the window. Klara does not have time to think about it because she sees the Cootings Machine.
The parents are arguing about what will happen when they get to the artist’s place. The Mother says that she and Josie and Klara are going inside just as planned and the Father ought not to say anything. He says he never agreed that he could not have an opinion on what they are doing. Josie promises Klara that if there is time the next day they will go to her old store.
The family arrives at a building. The Father and Josie walk together and the Mother takes Klara’s arm, calling her “honey” for the first time. She reminds her that Mr. Capaldi may have questions for her and she needs to answer them.
Inside, the space is bright white with spotlights and minimal furniture. The Mother asks Mr. Capaldi to see what he has done so far, and tells Josie she cannot see it yet. Left alone, the Father sighs to Josie that he is sorry things have turned out this way, and wishes he could be with her more often.
The Mother and Mr. Capaldi return. She is slumped in her posture. She tells the Father (whom she calls by his name, Paul) to go look at it. Mr. Capaldi says he wants Klara to stay while he photographs Josie because he has a little assignment for her. He turns to the Father and says he would understand as a fellow scientist that AFs have a lot to offer them and people should not fear their intellectual powers. The Father replies stiffly that he was an engineer, not a scientist, and that AFs were not his specialty.
Mr. Capaldi takes Klara to a smaller room where he gives her a questionnaire on a device. She can hear tense voices as she starts the questions. She eventually discerns what the questionnaire is about, and knows she does not need to give it too much attention. She is still able to see Father through the frosted glass door.
Eventually Klara can hear the conversation between the Mother, the Father, and Mr. Capaldi. The artist says he is aware of ethics in his work, while the Mother pleads with the Father to understand that he is only doing what they asked of him.
Klara decides she can go through the Purple Door, which she’d espied on the way to this smaller room and intuited there was something important behind it, to see what is inside the room. There, with tools and fabric, she sees Josie, suspended in air. It is not really Josie, but it looks just like her except she wears an expression Klara has never seen before on her. The hair does not look right, though, and Klara knows Josie would not like it.
The parents are still arguing, now with Josie there. The Father takes Josie away, and Mr. Capaldi tries to comfort the Mother, saying he knows she is having misgivings about this whole thing, and that she ought to not let Paul sway her. Visibly upset, she says it’s not Paul but the portrait. She notices Klara finally, and tells her to come down.
Mr. Capaldi asks if he’s done a good job and she says yes, it resembles Josie. The Mother asks what her thoughts are. Klara admits she knew it was not a portrait in the traditional sense, and went into the room to confirm her suspicions. The Mother buries her head in her hands, wondering how she will be able to accept that AF up there as her child, especially since it did not work with Sal. Mr. Capaldi replies that Sal was essentially a bereavement doll and nothing more, while this will really be Josie, will really be a continuation of her. He says that it’ll be Klara that really makes the difference and she should not lose faith.
Klara breaks in and explains that they may not need it because Josie may get better. However, she adds that if the day comes, she will step in and do everything in her power to help the AF be like Josie. She now understands why she was told to observe Josie at every step.
The Mother wants to tell Klara something else, and even though Mr. Capaldi is reluctant, he tells her to go ahead. It turns out that Klara is being asked to be Josie herself. The Mother wonders aloud if that is even possible and Mr. Capaldi says yes, especially now that Klara has filled out the survey. He says he knows the trouble with the Mother and himself is that “We’re both of us sentimental. We can’t help it. Our generation still carry the old feelings. A part of us refuses to let go. The part that wants to keep believing there’s something unreachable inside each of us. Something that’s unique and won’t transfer. But there’s nothing like that, we know that now. You know that. For people our age it’s a hard one to let go. We have to let it go, Chrissie. 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” (207-208). Weary, the Mother says that may be right but she is tired and it is time to go. The Mother drives to the restaurant where the Father and Josie are inside. She wants to let them be alone right now, as Josie misses her father. The Mother talks to Klara about how she knows Paul is entitled to his feelings, and that he’d said after lifting Sal they should not lift Josie because they knew the risk. But the Mother wanted the best for Josie and had to lift her, which has made her sick. She implores Klara to be Josie and tells her she will love her and take care of her. She adds that Klara can live a life with Rick too, and that the way to all this is to learn Josie entirely. Klara agrees this might be the best decision for everyone. The Mother embraces her, and Klara can feel her kindness.
The Mother eventually goes inside the restaurant to talk to Josie and the Father comes out. He seems less angry now, more reflective. He apologizes to Klara for being impolite earlier and she says she understands. He says it seems like Josie understands the plan, and asked him a lot of tough questions.
They cannot return until later, when Miss Helen and Rick will join them, so they go for a drive. He asks if she wants to see her old store and she excitedly says yes. As they drive, he asks her if she believes in the human heart in the poetic sense, and if Klara can truly learn not just Josie’s mannerisms but also her heart. She explains that it would be the hardest part to learn, but even though it is complex it is limited and she might be able to succeed in knowing it.
Klara admits she really wanted to come this way to see the machine and destroy it because it is terrible, and she thinks Mr. Paul can help her do it because he is an engineer. He asks how this will help Josie and she replies that she cannot answer frankly but believes it will help her recovery. He agrees after a moment of reflection.
But the machine is no longer there, and he can see she is distressed. He shakes his head that hope never leaves one alone. Finally they find the machine, chained up in a lot. He asks her exactly what she plans to do and she admits she feels a little foolish. He then asks if he can explain something to her and she assents. He confides that he hates Capaldi because he thinks the man might be right, that what he claims is true about the science of humans and AI. Chrissie will never be persuaded, he thinks, but he himself is different, colder maybe, and it bothers him to be around Capaldi because it reminds him of that trait.
The Father explains a possibility for ruining the machine, part of it which entails taking some of a chemical Klara has inside her into the machine. He tells her it is completely up to her, and that she would not lose her abilities or be affected to any significant degree. She only wants to help Josie, and so agrees.
Afterward, Klara is inside the sushi cafe, watching the Sun’s rays. She knows it is too early to hope for the Sun to intervene. The Father checks on Josie, who says she is fine but tired. Miss Helen is counseling Rick on the conversation coming up with Vance. She warns him that this is a “spontaneous” and social meeting, which he rolls his eyes at.
While they wait for Vance to show up, Miss Helen and the Father engage in conversation (the Mother is outside on her device). She tells him he’d like Vance because he too has fascistic leanings. The Father scoffs at this and says she cannot say such things in front of the kids. As for his community, they do not have an aggressive agenda other than defending themselves, which everyone might have to do someday. When Josie asks why he likes to live in this place with gangs and guns, he responds that they are his people, that it’s not that bad, and he’s learned since being substituted that there are “many different ways to lead a decent and full life” (228). Miss Helen apologizes for the suggestion that they are fascists, but raises her eyebrows that they are all white people from the ranks of former professional elites who’ve said they want to arm themselves against the “other” type of people. Rick tries to get his mother to stop talking but the Father reassures him he knows Miss Helen well and it is okay. Miss Helen shifts to talking about Vance, someone she was once involved with. He is rich and influential now, and she laughs that he was way more handsome in the past.
It is time to meet Vance in front of the theater, and the group leaves the sushi restaurant. The Sun does not seem to be doing anything for Josie yet. Rick and Josie walk together. He asks about her mother, and she says her mother is just having a weird day but it’s not important right now and he needs to be focused on his meeting.
Klara hears the Father talking to Miss Helen again, explaining that he does not care that she called him a fascist but that it’s not always going to be so peaceful where she lives. There was something in the city just last week, after all, and she needs to think about herself and Rick. She counters that she is, which is why they are meeting with Vance. The Father commends her on how fine Rick is and how there is always a place for them in his community. She thanks him and says she is sorry for being rude, and that while she can accept that some children have more abilities than others and agrees that the brighter ones should get the opportunities, Rick needs to be able to have a decent life as well.
Rick approaches Klara and asks what is going on with Josie. She does not know, but informs him that the task she wanted to complete is accomplished. There are a lot of swirling shapes around Klara in the city and she is trying to make sense of them. The Mother tells Klara in her ear not to repeat anything about the thing that they talked about in the car.
Meanwhile, a waitress from the restaurant named Cindy has joined the group on the street to chat, and mentions how she knows of Klara’s store. Miss Helen complains that Vance is late. The Mother asks her privately if she regrets not going ahead with Rick and Miss Helen says the honest answer is yes, even though she has seen what happened to Sal and Josie. She regrets not doing her best for him, even though it was less of a conscious choice and more of just letting a moment pass.
The Father asks the Mother angrily what she said to Josie, since the girl is acting strangely. The Mother admits she told her it was more than a portrait, and that of course Josie remembered Sal’s doll and has questions.
Vance approaches and Miss Helen excitedly introduces him to Rick. The Father asks Klara quietly what they did to the machine and she tells him he may hope now. Klara hears Josie telling her mother that she does not want her room sealed up like Sal’s, that Klara gets it and can come and go as she pleases. The Mother insists she will get well and they do not need to talk about this right now.
Miss Helen comes to Klara and says Chrissie wants to take Josie back to the apartment just the two of them, so Klara will come with her, Rick, and Vance. Josie hugs Klara tightly, just like the day she bought her.
Vance, Miss Helen, Rick, and Klara go to a nearby diner. They exchange kind remarks and Vance asks what this is about. Rick starts talking about what he’s developed with his drone technology and how he was maybe thinking about Atlas Brookings. Vance understands, and states that he knows the school is one that does not require that students be genetically edited. He also knows that they know he is the chair of the Founders’ Committee.
Vance agrees to look at Rick’s drawings, and is impressed. He asks a few questions and then says he must go soon. But abruptly he tells Rick that if the boy began by saying he was not seeking favoritism, then why is Vance sitting in front of him now? The mood shifts immediately. Miss Helen says she will answer for him, that yes they are asking for a favor, they know he can grant it, and she is asking him to let her boy have a fighting chance in this world. He is irritated, and says favors work best when they’re not acknowledged. Furthermore, she’s ignored him for years, and the problem is now that she, not Rick, is the one asking. Miss Helen apologizes for behaving badly towards him but he is not interested in this apology.
The meeting ends. Vance wishes them well and departs. Klara ruminates deeply on the human heart and all the complicated relationships she observed. She thinks Vance might still agree to help Rick, and they are glad to hear it.
Back at the Friend’s Apartment, Klara whispers to Rick that it is maybe possible to hope about Josie. She joins Josie, who was sleeping but now wakes. Josie inquires if the Mother talked to Klara about a new “idea” and Klara said no, not exactly an idea.
The next day they drive home. Miss Helen tells Rick not to say anything unpleasant about Vance, and says perhaps it was unfair to expect anything from him. Part of her still thinks he will help, though. Josie holds Rick’s hand.
Klara thinks about the Sun. She has not received confirmation of his nourishment though the machine was destroyed. Terribly, though, on the drive home she sees another Cootings Machine pumping out pollution. She now knows why the Sun hasn’t acted, and slumps down in her seat.
Analysis
This section unfolds over a comparably short timeline, but is filled with important developments. A minor plot point concerns Rick and his attempts to get into Atlas Brookings, which hints at the difficulties the unlifted have in making anything of themselves in this society. Another minor plot point is Klara’s sabotaging of the Cootings Machine by sacrificing some of herself in order to break the machine. This demonstrates her love for and loyalty to Josie, whom she is trying to save from death.
The major plot point is, of course, the revelation of the “portrait” as not a painted picture but as an AF body of Josie which Klara’s consciousness, which would be turned totally to “being” Josie, will be transferred into. This was a project initiated by the Mother due to her immense grief at losing Sal and her inability to imagine how she could withstand losing her other daughter (especially as she blames herself for “lifting” Josie, a procedure that causes her daughter’s illness). Christopher Au, in his larger article on nostalgia in Ishiguro’s work, writes that “Much like Never Let Me Go, the nostalgia in Klara and the Sun is focused on personal loss, rather than a broad cultural loss. Josie’s older sister, Sal, dies young of complications from being lifted, and this loss devastates the family. Chrissie in particular is driven to hold on to the past, going so far as to preemptively make arrangements with Mr. Capaldi in an attempt to prevent the complete loss of Josie through a restoratively nostalgic exercise.”
Mr. Capaldi urges the Mother to carry on with this project even though she has doubts. She has “misgivings” (203) but, in her inconsistency, is frustrated with the Father (whom we meet for the first time in this section), asking why he makes things harder by offering critiques of what Capaldi is doing. She is skeptical that she will be able to accept this new Josie but seemingly cannot turn away from this project because the idea of being bereft of two daughters is incomprehensible to her. Capaldi gives her a long explanation of how she ought to change her understanding of “humanness”: “We’re both of us sentimental. We can’t help it. Our generation still carry the old feelings. A part of us refuses to let go. The part that wants to keep believing there's something unreachable inside each of us. Something that’s unique and won’t transfer. But there’s nothing like that, we know that now. You know that. For people our age it’s a hard one to let go. We have to let it go, Chrissie. 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 must as you love Josie now” (207-208). Still, though, she is not totally convinced.
The Father, though, wonders if Capaldi is actually right, even if what he is doing is deeply uncomfortable. He tells Klara that “I think I hate Capaldi because deep down I suspect he may be right. That what he claims is true. That science has proved beyond doubt there’s nothing so unique about my daughter, nothing there our modern tools can’t excavate, copy, transfer” (221). Klara listens and tells him she understands, but refuses to engage in speculation. She simply says that “it’s even more important than ever that what Mr. Capaldi proposes is never put to the test. If we can make Josie healthy, then the portrait, my learning her, none of it will matter” (222).
There’s more that is interesting about the Father. Miss Helen tells him that he is similar to Vance because of their “fascistic leanings” (229). The Father is irritated, not wanting this discussed in front of the children, but cannot help responding with “What I was saying earlier has nothing to do with fascism. We have no aggressive agenda beyond defending ourselves should the need arise” (228). He says he is living with “some very fine people” (228) who all agree that “if another group won’t respect us, and what we have, they need to know they will have a fight on their hands” (229). Miss Helen’s point is that all the people in his community are “white people and all from the ranks of former professional elites. You did say that. And that you were having to arm yourselves quite extensively against other types” (229). Later, the Father pulls Miss Helen aside and says he does not really care if she calls him a fascist, and is more concerned for her since things might not be peaceful soon. He says if things worsen “I can find you both [Miss Helen and Rick] a place within or community” (233).
Critics have explored these rather sparse and oblique comments, seeing them as part of Ishiguro’s creation of this alternate near-future that resembles things currently happening in the United States and Britain. Dennis Lim says that “the dystopia of Klara and the Sun, like the one in Never Let Me Go, seems to have defaulted to whiteness. The occasional appearance of a ‘black-skinned’ person is unusual enough for Klara to find it worth noting; the only presumably nonwhite presence of note is the family housekeeper, who speaks in conspicuously broken English. Matched by the monotony of Klara’s telling, the drab homogeneity of this world becomes part of its banal horror.” Ultimately, Katie Fitzpatrick claims that “Klara and the Sun is Ishiguro’s first post-Brexit, post-Trump novel [she is writing this in 2021], and it tackles rising far-right ideologies head-on; fascism, he suggests, is no longer unspeakable. Indeed, it is only barely disavowed by the novel’s liberal characters.”
