Klara and the Sun: Context (Edexcel IGCSE English Literature): Revision Note
Exam code: 4ET1
Klara and the Sun historical context
Set in a near-future dystopian USA, Klara and the Sun explores themes of artificial intelligence, social isolation and genetic editing. Published in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, the isolation of many of the characters reflects the quarantine conditions of this time, especially in relation to education.
Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954, nine years after an atomic bomb was dropped on the city in 1945:
Japan’s post-war trauma and its complex relationship with technology can be linked to his work
In 1960 the family moved to Britain after his father, Shizuo Ishiguro, a research oceanographer, was invited to work for the British government:
Shizuo Ishiguro invented a storm surge machine that is now part of the permanent exhibition at the Science Museum in London
Although not set during a pandemic, the novel’s themes of isolation and loneliness resonate with pandemic and post-pandemic audiences:
Josie is educated at home through remote lessons with “screen professors” via a device called an “oblong” and a headset to communicate with her teachers
How this links to Klara and the Sun | |
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Isolation and technology | The novel explores themes related to isolation and loneliness which many people experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, it explores a complex relationship with technology, highlighting the social inequalities advanced technology can both contribute to and expose |
Klara and the Sun social context
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
At the time Ishiguro’s novel, Klara and the Sun, was published in 2021, there was widespread interest and growing financial investment in AI. In the novel, AI is explored not just as a new and advanced technology, but as a way of examining the complexities of human nature. AI is primarily represented by Artificial Friends — physical, solar-powered androids purchased by wealthy parents to ensure their children do not get lonely.
The continuing debate about the potential impact on humanity by AI, especially with the rise of ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies, means that Klara and the Sun serves as a premonitionary story:
The narrative utilises warnings to signal future events to the reader
In our society, artificial friends like Klara are typically chatbots or virtual avatars, which have very quickly become widely used by technology companies and businesses and, in many instances, have replaced humans entirely:
Ishiguro takes this idea one step further by making his artificial friend protagonist a physical entity
Klara has a physical body that requires “solar absorption” to function
We are already living in a society where AI has changed and, in some cases, replaced human jobs:
The novel presents a dystopian society where AI has caused economic and social problems
Human workers, such as Josie’s father, have lost their careers after being “substituted” by AI advancements
This fuels resentment and prejudice against AFs
How this links to Klara and the Sun | |
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AI | The novel describes a world in which AFs are commonplace. They are expensive, however, restricting their use to the wealthiest in society, and are bought to make users feel less lonely and isolated, thereby linking to the social context |
A central debate in the novel is whether AI can perfectly replicate and replace a human being. Mr Capaldi and Klara’s mother plan for Klara to “inhabit” a synthetic replica of Josie should she succumb to her illness. Mr Capaldi argues that human uniqueness is an outdated, sentimental illusion. Josie’s father, Paul, challenges this view, suggesting that there will always be a hidden layer to humans that AI cannot access. Ultimately, Klara concludes that true human uniqueness is not located inside the individual, but “inside those who loved her”, making a perfect AI replacement impossible | |
Isolation
Set in a world not dissimilar to ours, Ishiguro creates a setting in which young people are isolated from their contemporaries and must indulge in Artificial Friends to replace human interaction.
In the novel, technological development appears to have stifled traditional school education, with Josie educated remotely by Professor Helm who is presented somewhere geographically very different, described by Josie as “hot”
Like Josie, in society today, young people interact with their peers in different ways to their parents because of the surge in the use of technology:
On one hand, technology means people can connect with whoever they want, anywhere on the globe, whenever they want
On the flip side, this reduces face to face human interaction, leading to a decline in basic communication and conversation skills, so much so that people become reliant on tools like ChatGPT to help them “think”
On top of this, in Klara and the Sun, the process of “lifting” creates an unequal society, leading to more division and isolation
How this links to Klara and the Sun | |
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Isolation | At the start of the novel, Josie is presented as a tragic figure, such is her desperation for companionship that she lacks in real life. Events that bring young people together, such as the “interaction meeting”, are contrived and bring out the worst in humans who lack the skills to literally “interact” |
Genetic engineering
Klara and the Sun is set in a futuristic world in which some people are ‘lifted’, undergoing genetic enhancement. What this literally entails in the context of the novel is never made clear, but Ishiguro uses the contrast of Josie and Rick to explore the challenges faced by those who are ‘lifted’ and those who are not.
In our society, genetic engineering is using science to modify genes in order to improve the ways in which humans function
Such advances are deeply controversial, with opponents arguing that genetic engineering is dangerous, at odds with humans’ cherished diversity, and could cause inequality
The primary consequence of genetic enhancement in the novel is a systemic class divide:
“Lifted” children form a new social elite
Those who are not genetically enhanced, or “unlifted”, face prejudice and their prospects are more limited
Ishiguro explores genetic engineering as a terrifying choice parents must make
Furthermore, Ishiguro could be critiquing a hyper-competitive society which places value on getting into the “right” school or college, equating this to future life success
How this links to Klara and the Sun | |
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Genetic engineering | The novel strongly alludes to the idea that Josie’s sickness, and Sal’s death, may have been as a result of their genetic modification, with this idea notably explored through the guilt of Chrissie. In Part Five, fearing Josie will die, Chrissie rhetorically asks Rick: “Do you really feel like a winner?” Genetic engineering is thus presented as a calculated risk, or a “gamble”. Rick is economically and educationally limited due to his mother playing it “safe”, while Josie has those opportunities but also dangerously poor health |
Klara and the Sun literary context
Klara and the Sun is a work of dystopian fiction, drawing parallels with another Ishiguro novel, Never Let Me Go, published in 2005. Similarly both novels explore ethical issues in the context of dystopian worlds that are consciously not extreme or totalitarian in order to make the context and setting relatable to readers.
Dystopia
Klara and the Sun is a science-fiction dystopia, set in an unspecified future time period that feels relatably similar to the present
Klara and the Sun features a number of dystopian elements, including:
The illusion of an ideal, technologically-advanced society
An unequal society where some people are ‘lifted’ through genetic modification
Threats to human nature and instinct
A conclusion that suggests an uncertain and unpredictable future
Dystopian science fiction often features narratives that serve as warnings, exaggerating contemporary social, political or technological anxieties to serve as a critique
How this links to Klara and the Sun | |
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Dystopia | The novel is narrated by the eponymous Klara, an “Artificial Friend”, whose perspective offers a naïve, innocent take on people, places and events, but this is juxtaposed by the dystopian setting. Unlike many dystopias, where setting is immediately established, the dystopian setting must be gradually understood through the learning of Klara. Moreover, the unspecified time and place of the dystopian setting offers the reader universal, unrestricted interpretations. |
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