As I was reading the novel’s conclusion, I couldn’t help but think of Klara’s literary historical predecessors-those caregivers, domestic servants, nannies, and even “Mammies” (racist caricatures of Black women who work as caregivers for white families) who, in fiction, have often been represented as lesser, sometimes even less than human.

The memories which comprise the novel’s pages assure her that she fulfilled her commitment to serve the family well.īut what at first glance appears a bittersweet, perhaps even sentimental ending has darker implications. In the end, although Josie has grown up and moved away, the AF is contented by her decisions. Though she faces trials which threaten to corrupt her, Klara stays true to her mission: to learn about her teenage companion, Josie, and protect her from loneliness. Pollution blocks the Sun, which solar-powered AFs, and perhaps even humans, need to survive increased automation and robotic technology have resulted in mass unemployment and extreme wealth inequalities many of the “postemployed” form fascist communities that stand in antagonistic relation to both racialized “others” and the elite, the “high ranking” men and women who have genetically edited, or “lifted,” their children to a dangerous level of super intelligence. Klara, an especially observant “girl AF,” discovers a world beset by existential threats and torn asunder by violence.

Ishiguro klara