Klara and the Sun

For the most part, the women in Klara and the Sun are quick to sacrifice for their loved ones, while the adult men are more independent. What role does gender play in Klara and the Sun, and what does it mean that Klara is a “female” AF?

Chrissy and Helen made opposite choices in regards to lifting their children, and both carry immense guilt. Josie believes her mother made the courageous choice. Is Josie correct? Was Helen’s choice made out of cowardice, or something else?

For the most part, Klara’s narration is direct and calm. In Part 4, however, especially in the crowd outside the theater, her account becomes jumbled and confused. What effect does this stylistic shift have on the story? Would you characterize Klara as a reliable or unreliable narrator?

Klara’s understanding of the outside world is limited, but her analysis of human emotions is extraordinary. Are there limits to her empathic abilities as well, and what are they? When does she read emotions wrong, and what does it mean?

Klara overhears Vance chiding Helen’s bid for “favoritism” and in turn acknowledges the inequity of favoritism in pleading with the sun. In both cases, however, a deserving, innocent protagonist’s future is at stake. What does favoritism mean in the context of Klara and the Sun, and what is its relation to genetic engineering and social equality?

The bubble game is a source of both enjoyment and tension for Rick and Josie. What does it mean for their relationship, and what part does drawing and artistic expression play in Klara and the Sun?

Klara and the Sun begins and ends with Klara in the company of the store manager, who is always kind to Klara and appreciates her unique abilities. What does the manager teach Klara, and what does she learn from her? What effect does her appearance at the end of the novel have on Klara’s narrative?

Compared with many works of science fiction, Klara and the Sun offers only spotty details about the novel’s setting. Readers can loosely infer time, place, and elements of the political landscape, but explanations of the science and history of genetic engineering are vague. How does this strengthen or weaken the novel’s thematic messages?