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The Sun plays a god-like role in the novel, symbolizing both that people have lost touch with nature and the emotional power of having faith in something bigger than oneself. Klara is solar-powered, so the Sun actually does provide nourishment to her—she is sluggish when she doesn’t get enough sunlight. Perhaps because of this, Klara seems to overestimate the effect the Sun has on humans, believing at one point that the Sun is responsible for bringing Beggar Man back from a near-death state. Klara develops rituals about how to communicate with the sun, further imbuing it with a divine kind of authority. She treats Mr. McBain’s barn, where the Sun appears to set, as a place of worship, and she tries to communicate with the Sun in her mind, as if it’s a deity that can read her thoughts. And though it is perhaps nothing more than a coincidence, Josie makes a miraculous recovery on a sunny morning after Klara has pleaded with the Sun to spare her. In a way, then, the novel invites readers to set aside their cynicism and, at the very least, consider the extent to which having faith in the Sun has given Klara not just a sense of hope and meaning, but agency, too. The Sun therefore comes to symbolize the power of believing in something bigger than oneself. And yet, none of the humans around Klara think about the Sun at all. As a result, the Sun’s function in the novel also represents just how out of touch humans have become with the natural world.
The Sun Quotes in Klara and the Sun
The Klara and the Sun quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Sun. 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:
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Part One
Quotes
When we were new, Rosa and I were mid-store, on the magazines table side, and could see through more than half of the window. So we were able to watch the outside—the office workers hurrying by, the taxis, the runners, the tourists, Beggar Man and his dog, the lower part of the RPO building.
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The next morning, the grid went up and it was a most splendid day. The Sun was pouring his nourishment onto the street and into the buildings, and when I looked over to the spot where Beggar Man and the dog had died, I saw they weren’t dead at all—that a special kind of nourishment from the Sun had saved them.
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Part Three
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“Please make Josie better. Just as you did Beggar Man.”
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Part Four
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“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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Its body was a different shade of yellow, its dimensions a little greater—and its ability to create Pollution more than a match for the first Cootings Machine.
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Part Five
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But I’m remembering how delighted you were on that day Coffee Cup Lady and Raincoat Man found each other again. You were so delighted and couldn’t help showing it. So I know just how much it matters to you that people who love one another are brought together, even after many years.
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Part Six
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“But now we’re no longer kids, we have to wish each other the best and go our different ways. It couldn’t have worked out, me going to college, trying to compete with all those lifted kids. I’ve got my own plans now, and that’s how it should be. But that was no lie, Klara. And in a funny way, it still isn’t a lie now.”
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When she was mid-distance, she stopped and turned, and I thought she might look back one last time at me. But she was gazing at the far distance, in the direction of the construction crane on the horizon. Then she continued to walk away.
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Get the entire Klara and the Sun LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Sun Symbol Timeline in Klara and the Sun
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Sun appears in Klara and the Sun. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part One
...position, Klara can see out the window to watch the rising and setting of the Sun, which she believes gives her nourishment. One day, when the sun goes away, a boy...
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...because of all the pollution from the Cootings Machine. Daytime becomes like night, and the Sun stops coming into the store. Manager assures Klara that the awful Cootings Machine has been...
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Then one morning the Cootings Machine is gone, the Sun is back, and everyone outside seems happier. Two days later, a 12-year-old girl with spiky...
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Part Two
...around. Klara likes how the kitchen has a lot of room to let in the Sun, though she finds it strange that out the window she can’t see traffic or other...
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...looks out at three adjoining fields. From there, Klara and Josie like to watch the Sun set while waiting for the Mother to come home. Once, when the Mother comes home...
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...Josie explains is Mr. McBain’s barn. For Klara, this barn appears to be where the Sun goes to rest in the evening.
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Part Three
...Klara outside. As she walks, she gets the idea of asking for help from the Sun for Josie, since the Sun did so much to help Beggar Man.
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...Klara asks to be left alone. She sits and waits in the barn for the Sun to fill it. As the Sun gets near, she forms words in her thoughts (because...
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Part Four
The Father, Josie, Klara, Miss Helen, and Ricky all leave the sushi café. The Sun is nearly setting, and Klara doesn’t think it will send any special help that day....
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...tells the Mother that it’s possible to hope that things might get better when the Sun rises tomorrow. The Mother warns Klara that she just had a strange conversation with Josie...
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...in touch. Klara is disappointed and believes that the new Cootings Machine is why the Sun didn’t intervene to help Josie.
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Part Five
Klara says she must go back to McBain’s barn right before the Sun goes down. Rick says he’ll help. Klara asks Rick to really think and tell the...
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...with the sun’s orange light. Klara begins forming words in her mind to address the Sun again.
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Klara begs the Sun’s forgiveness for failing to stop the Cootings Machine’s pollution, but she asks the Sun to...
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Klara tells the Sun that she remembers how happy he was on the day that Coffee Cup Lady met...
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Thinking back to the conversation between Vance and Rick, Klara tells the Sun that she knows favoritism isn’t a good thing. Still, she says that surely young people...
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...Klara interrupts them and says that they have to go upstairs at once because the Sun is coming out. Rick and the Mother are worried, but they find that Josie is...
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...sleep, but Klara insists that they need to open the blinds and let as much Sun in as possible. The Sun begins to illuminate Josie and her whole bed. They all...
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Part Six
Klara believes the Sun helped Josie just as it helped Beggar Man. Seasons and years go by. Josie does...
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...after hearing his car. Rick says that, thinking back, he remembers the morning when the Sun came into Josie’s room and how it seemed like that was the moment she started...
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Klara does mention, however, that she’s worried. She told the Sun that Josie and Rick’s love was real and forever, but it seems that they’re preparing...
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...a way for Klara to stand on a plastic crate to see out to the Sun.
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...she must let Manager know that there was an incident in Josie’s home where the Sun showed particular kindness. Manager says she’s sure the Sun was always kind to Klara. They...
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