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Part One
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Klara and the Sun, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Meaning of Love
Costs and Benefits of Progress
Faith and Hope
Environmentalism
Summary
Analysis
Some time has passed, and Klara has left the store and is now Josie’s AF. Klara finds the house difficult to navigate, particularly the kitchen, since objects keep moving around. Klara likes how the kitchen has a lot of room to let in the Sun, though she finds it strange that out the window she can’t see traffic or other AFs.
Klara believes at first that Melania Housekeeper is like Manager, and that she will teach Klara what to do, but Melania Housekeeper just tells Klara to stop following her around. Despite the lack of specific instructions, Klara eventually learns the routines of the people in her house, such as how the Mother takes a quick coffee every morning at the island in the kitchen.
As with Manager, Klara gives Melania Housekeeper a slightly unusual name: presumably her first name is Melania and “housekeeper” is just her job. Klara’s mistaking of jobs and names shows how in human society, sometimes jobs are as much of a person’s identity as their name. Perhaps it's notable, however, that the Mother has a job but is still referred to as the Mother, suggesting that, at least from Klara’s perspective, her role as a parent is more central to her identity than her role as a worker.
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Some mornings, the Mother doesn’t have to hurry with coffee. One day, she talks with Josie about the pictures she draws in pencil. The Mother encourages Josie to use color pencils, but recently, Josie has preferred drawing in black and white. These conversations are pleasant, but other conversations are tense, like when Josie describes problems with her various tutors, who help with her education.
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In Josie’s bedroom, there is a window that looks out at three adjoining fields. From there, Klara and Josie like to watch the Sun set while waiting for the Mother to come home. Once, when the Mother comes home early, Josie even interrupts the conversation so that Klara can see the sunset.
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One object out the window that particularly interests Klara is a dark box, which Josie explains is Mr. McBain’s barn. For Klara, this barn appears to be where the Sun goes to rest in the evening.
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Josie explains to Klara that she went to the barn one time, with her best friend Rick, back before she got sick. Klara is confused at first because she believes it’s her duty to be Josie’s best friend, but Josie explains that things are different and that she and Rick will spend their lives together. Rick lives next door, and Josie will introduce Klara someday.
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The next week, Klara meets Rick and sees the outside of Josie’s house for the first time. Before that, Josie has to finish a lesson with her professor (which she does remotely in the kitchen, on a device called an “oblong”). After getting permission from Melania Housekeeper, Klara and Josie go outside.
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Literary Devices
Outside, Melania Housekeeper takes Josie’s arm to help her walk, but eventually Josie persuades her to let go so that she and Klara can go next door to see Rick. They climb a hill to meet Rick, and Josie gets short of breath.
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When Klara and Josie get to Rick, he is busy flying mechanical drones that look like birds with a remote control. Josie introduces Klara to Rick, but Rick seems unexpectedly annoyed. He has a British accent and says Josie promised to never get an AF. Josie says she made that promise a while ago, and Klara isn’t just any AF. Klara realizes that she can learn from Rick about how to be a better friend for Josie.
Melania Housekeeper calls for Josie to come back. Before leaving, Josie makes Rick promise to come to a meeting at lunchtime next Tuesday, and Rick reluctantly agrees. Josie asks Klara what she thinks of the outside world. Klara says she likes it, and that she likes Rick as well. Josie is pleased but admits that Rick doesn’t always make good first impressions.
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That evening at dinner, Josie and the Mother discuss Josie’s upcoming “interaction meeting.” Even though Josie gets good grades, she still has to learn how to get alone with others, and so she must host a meeting with some of her peers. The Mother says that this skill is particularly important for college.
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Josie asks if Rick can come, and the Mother agrees after some hesitation. Josie asks if the Mother thinks it’s a bad idea for Rick to come or if the other kids will be rude to Rick. The mother again hesitates, but says as long as Rick wants to come, everything will be OK.
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On the morning of the interaction meeting, Josie is anxious. She goes into a room filled with the parents of the other children, then Rick appears at the door, and she introduces him. The adults are polite, but Klara notices that they’re cautious when speaking to Rick. The Mother tells Josie to go host her guests (the other children), so Josie takes Rick into the other room, leaving Klara standing there unsure what to do.
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Left with the adults, Klara hears them talking about how Rick “missed out,” but they nevertheless agree that Rick seems bright and that it’s good for Josie to learn how to get along with all kinds of people. One parent asks if Rick’s parents decided “not to go ahead,” and this causes an awkward moment that leads to the parent apologizing to the Mother. The Mother just asks everyone to drop the subject.
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The parents talk about Josie’s health, and the Mother says she has good days and bad days. The Mother soon changes the subject and says they should all go into the kitchen for pastries.
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The Mother tells Klara that she should go in to be with Josie and the children, so Klara goes. Rick is standing alone, and some girls talk about how they should do something to welcome him, since he must feel weird. They offer him a chocolate bon-bon and start talking with him about movies. Rick doesn’t eat the chocolate, which creates an awkward situation, so Josie interrupts to introduce Klara.
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After greeting Klara, the girls mostly ignore her and begin to gossip about the other children. One of the boys notices Klara and asks her to come over. He grabs her and pins her arms. Another boy says they should throw Klara, since the B3 models always land on their feet. The children give Klara other commands, but she doesn’t respond to them.
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When Klara doesn’t follow commands, a boy again suggests throwing Klara across the room. Just then, Rick intervenes by pointing out that the boy has a “pet object” on him (the sort of toys that children carry with them). The boy backs off.
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The children go outside. Klara thanks Rick for intervening. Rick explains that he doesn’t belong in the group because it’s a meeting for “lifted” kids. Lifting is a procedure that parents (especially wealthy parents) have their children undergo in order to make them more intelligent, and it is required for most colleges. Rick talks about how he plans to save Josie from becoming like the other children. He talks about how he and Josie made a plan to always be together. Finally, Rick leaves, saying he has to check on his mother.
Klara feels that Josie acted different during her interaction meeting with the other children and was more distant toward Klara, but in the days after, Josie is cheerful toward Klara again.
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Three weeks after the interaction meeting, Klara notices a change in Josie’s health. The Mother tells her she must get well so that they can go on a trip to Morgan’s Falls. Josie promises to get well and then asks if they can take Klara. The Mother says they can.
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Josie shows Klara old pictures of her family at Morgan’s Falls. In one photo, Josie has a companion—when Klara asks about her, Josie reveals that it is Sal, her sister, who has been dead for a long time (from a different illness than what Josie has).
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The Mother warns Klara in advance of the Morgan’s Falls trip that Josie sometimes gets overexcited, and so Klara will have to watch out for her. The Sunday morning of the trip, Klara notices Josie looking weary, but they get in the car anyway. It’s Klara’s first time in a car.
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Literary Devices
In the car, the Mother suddenly accuses Josie of hiding how sick and weary she feels. She wants to call off the trip, but Josie pleads that Klara’s looking forward to it. The Mother surprises everyone by ordering Melania Housekeeper to take Josie out of the car so that Klara and the Mother can go to the falls on their own. Josie reluctantly agrees to stay home, but she says that Klara should go.
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The Mother drives in silence with Klara for a while before talking about Josie. The Mother wishes to be more like Klara and not have feelings, but Klara believes that she does have feelings, and that she discovers even more feelings the more she observes. They talk about Josie’s father (the Father)—he works at a place on the way to the falls, and he and the Mother get along fine now, according to her.
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The Mother parks the car, and she and Klara begin to walk up to Morgan’s Falls. They make it to the falls themselves. The Mother wonders if maybe Josie could have made the trip after all. The Mother talks about how the whole family used to come with Sal. Klara asks why Sal died, but the Mother doesn’t want to answer. She concludes it was right not to bring Josie.
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Literary Devices
The Mother asks Klara if she’s still able to mimic Josie’s walk. She doesn’t ask Klara to do the walk, but she does ask Klara to do other things in the style of Josie. Klara roleplays, talking as Josie, saying that she just felt a little tired this morning but that she’s going to be fine. Klara (as Josie) says that some “special help” will be coming to make her feel better. Eventually, the Mother abruptly ends this by calling Klara by her real name.
On the ride back, the Mother says she enjoyed the trip, and suggests perhaps they can do it again, if Josie is too sick to come. The Mother asks if the “special help” Klara mentioned (to cure Josie) is real, but Klara says it’s just a hope, based on observation.
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When the Mother and Klara get back, Josie is drawing intensely. Klara thinks that Josie seems mad at her and wants to be alone, so she leaves Josie to continue sketching.
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