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Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Mood
Explanation and Analysis:
The mood of Klara and the Sun is often more subtle than stated, in part because of Klara’s reliance on technical description and her largely neutral prose. Both plot and prose are flat, confined mostly to the domestic realm of Josie’s home or the AF storefront. Sun rays pouring through a set of opened blinds make for the novel’s highest point of climax. With the simplicity of its style and story, Klara and the Sun lacks the overt attachment to emotion that other works might have.
Despite its minimized displays of feeling, the novel exerts its own tensions and moments of pathos. Klara builds suspense through her extreme perceptiveness to the world around her. By noticing strange or unexpected details, she generates an undercurrent of suspicion and uncertainty beneath even the most mundane of interactions. Klara’s earliest observations about the Mother, for instance, cast a vaguely sinister portrait of the character. The Mother stares “straight through” Klara when visiting the store, demanding the AF to mimic Josie’s gait. She visits the “creep” Mr. Capaldi and asks Klara to mime Josie’s speech at Morgan’s Falls. Coupled with Miss Helen’s memory of seeing the Mother with Sal after her death, the novel accumulates details that cloud the character with mystery. Though the work eventually dispels these concerns, this wealth of details allows the reader to imagine far more unsettling possibilities—dead children, robots, creepy middle-aged men, and “narrowed eyes” don’t usually mean much good, after all. Some curiosities, like Mr. Capaldi’s “portrait” project, get resolved. Others—some even as small as Melania Housekeeper’s food blender that Klara finds in Mr. McBain’s barn—don’t. Like a shadow puppet show, the novel curates strange facts to create briefly troubling moments of suspense or tension.
The work ends on a saddening note, too, as Klara undergoes her “slow fade” in the Yard. She wastes away, alone, after a life of earnest service and love. Despite her account of crows and construction scrap, this abandonment itself is enough to create a sadness that weighs upon the story. If Klara doesn’t feel emotional about being left behind in the Yard, the reader at least does.
