Klara and the Sun

by

Kazuo Ishiguro

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Klara and the Sun makes teaching easy.

Melania Housekeeper Character Analysis

Melania Housekeeper is a housekeeper who lives with the Mother, Josie, and eventually Klara. English is not her first language, and she often speaks bluntly in ways that surprise Klara. Melania Housekeeper is especially wary around Klara at first, perhaps because she senses that a robot like Klara could soon make her own housekeeping job obsolete. Nevertheless, Melania Housekeeper learns to work with Klara, in part because she cares deeply about Josie and is even willing to contradict the Mother to help Josie, such as when she asks Klara to keep a close eye on the mysterious portrait-maker Mr. Capaldi. Melania Housekeeper shows the complicated relationship that household workers have with the people who employ them, providing a comparison with Klara, who is also a sort of domestic worker but who isn’t human.

Melania Housekeeper Quotes in Klara and the Sun

The Klara and the Sun quotes below are all either spoken by Melania Housekeeper or refer to Melania Housekeeper. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Meaning of Love Theme Icon
).
Part Two Quotes

The kitchen was especially difficult to navigate because so many of its elements would change their relationships to one another moment by moment. I now appreciated how in the store—surely out of consideration for us—Manager had carefully kept all the items, even smaller ones like the bracelets or the silver earrings box, in their correct places.

Related Characters: Klara (speaker), Josie, The Mother, Melania Housekeeper, Manager, Rosa, Rex
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Five Quotes

The Sun was illuminating her, and the entire bed, in a ferocious half-disc of orange, and the Mother, standing closest to the bed, was having to raise her hands to her face.

Related Characters: Klara (speaker), Josie, The Mother, Rick, Melania Housekeeper
Page Number: 279
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Klara and the Sun LitChart as a printable PDF.
Klara and the Sun PDF

Melania Housekeeper Quotes in Klara and the Sun

The Klara and the Sun quotes below are all either spoken by Melania Housekeeper or refer to Melania Housekeeper. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Meaning of Love Theme Icon
).
Part Two Quotes

The kitchen was especially difficult to navigate because so many of its elements would change their relationships to one another moment by moment. I now appreciated how in the store—surely out of consideration for us—Manager had carefully kept all the items, even smaller ones like the bracelets or the silver earrings box, in their correct places.

Related Characters: Klara (speaker), Josie, The Mother, Melania Housekeeper, Manager, Rosa, Rex
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Five Quotes

The Sun was illuminating her, and the entire bed, in a ferocious half-disc of orange, and the Mother, standing closest to the bed, was having to raise her hands to her face.

Related Characters: Klara (speaker), Josie, The Mother, Rick, Melania Housekeeper
Page Number: 279
Explanation and Analysis: