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Miss Helen
The Father is Josie’s father and the Mother’s ex-husband. A talented engineer, he is still on speaking terms with the Mother, but they often disagree about what’s best for Josie, particularly when it comes to the mysterious Mr. Capaldi, who wants to help the Mother create a portrait of Josie (the “portrait” is actually a robot clone) that can “continue” her if she ever dies. The father lives in an insular community that Miss Helen calls “fascistic,” but the Father believes his community is simply preparing to defend itself from real threats. The nature of these threats is never specified, and many aspects of the Father’s life remain mysterious, although it is implied that outside of the relatively comfortable area where Josie lives, many parts of world are more violent. The Father helps Klara destroy a Cootings Machine (which Klara hopes will please the Sun by reducing pollution). The Father’s interest in engineering symbolically connects him to Josie’s inventive friend Rick, and so the disintegration of the Mother and the Father’s relationship foreshadows how Josie and Rick will both grow up to value different things in life.
The Father Quotes in Klara and the Sun
The Klara and the Sun quotes below are all either spoken by The Father or refer to The Father. 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:
).
Part Four
Quotes
He clearly wished to greet Josie with an embrace, and looked around for somewhere to put down the paper bag, but Josie stepped forward and put her arms around him, paper bag and all. As he received her embrace, his gaze wandered around the room and fell on me. Then he looked away and closed his eyes, letting his cheek rest against the top of her head. They stayed like that for a time, keeping very still, not even rocking slowly the way the Mother and Josie did sometimes during their morning farewells.
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I turned the corner of the L and saw Josie there, suspended in the air. She wasn’t very high—her feet were at the height of my shoulders—but because she was leaning forward, arms outstretched, fingers spread, she seemed to be frozen in the act of falling. Little beams illuminated her from various angles, forbidding her any refuge. Her face was very like that of the real Josie, but because there was at the eyes no kind smile, the upward curve of her lips gave her an expression I’d never seen before. The face looked disappointed and afraid.
“You know, Klara. I don’t even know what this is about. But I want what’s best for Josie. Exactly the same as you. So I’m willing to grasp at any chance that comes our way.”
I turned to him with a smile and nodded. “Yes,” I said. “Then let’s try.”
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The Father Quotes in Klara and the Sun
The Klara and the Sun quotes below are all either spoken by The Father or refer to The Father. 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:
).
Part Four
Quotes
He clearly wished to greet Josie with an embrace, and looked around for somewhere to put down the paper bag, but Josie stepped forward and put her arms around him, paper bag and all. As he received her embrace, his gaze wandered around the room and fell on me. Then he looked away and closed his eyes, letting his cheek rest against the top of her head. They stayed like that for a time, keeping very still, not even rocking slowly the way the Mother and Josie did sometimes during their morning farewells.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
I turned the corner of the L and saw Josie there, suspended in the air. She wasn’t very high—her feet were at the height of my shoulders—but because she was leaning forward, arms outstretched, fingers spread, she seemed to be frozen in the act of falling. Little beams illuminated her from various angles, forbidding her any refuge. Her face was very like that of the real Josie, but because there was at the eyes no kind smile, the upward curve of her lips gave her an expression I’d never seen before. The face looked disappointed and afraid.
“You know, Klara. I don’t even know what this is about. But I want what’s best for Josie. Exactly the same as you. So I’m willing to grasp at any chance that comes our way.”
I turned to him with a smile and nodded. “Yes,” I said. “Then let’s try.”
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