|
Characters |
|
Klara Rosa Manager Chrissie
Arthur – mother Josie Sal –
deceased daughter Paul – father Melanie
Housekeeper Rick –
Josie’s best friend Miss Helen –
mother Vance – Atlas
Brookings Mr. Henry Calpaldi
– artist, making “portrait” of Josie The Sun Cootings
Machine – pollution |
For Discussion:
NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.
1.
What did you think about the “Interaction
Meeting” on page 85? Did you think Klara
seemed better adjusted than the teens?
What about the threat of violence toward Klara?
2.
When Klara looked at things, why was everything
always divided up into boxes? When Klara was watching the Interaction Meeting,
“the room’s space was divided into twenty-four boxes – arranged in two tiers”
(page 77). Later, when she looked at the
Mother, “the whole section of the room had become partitioned, her narrow eyes
repeated in box after box” (page 186).
3.
What did you think happened to Sal? When she died Chrissie and Paul had a
bereavement doll made, not a replacement like they are doing for Josie.
4.
Mr. Calpaldi is asking Klara to “become” Josie
(page 207) if something happens to her.
He believes that “science has now proved beyond doubt there nothing
unique” about Josie (page 221). How
could people start to believe that?
5.
Why do you think Chrissie visits Miss
Helen? What would they have in common?
6.
Did you think the AFs had feelings? When Josie was meeting with the others, Klara
“feared the interaction meeting might place shadows over our friendship” (page
84). Also, how do you explain Klara
willingness to harm herself to ruin a Cootings Machine in hopes of the Sun
curing Josie?
7.
What trade-offs did the parents have to make to
have their child be “lifted?” Chrissie
told Klara she wanted Josie to “have a good life.” She said, “I called it, and now Josie’s sick. Because of what I decided” (page 211).
8.
Did having Klara as the narrator and seeing
things through her eyes give you any new perspectives? She referred to things common in our world
by different names, for example: high-rank clothes, staring at oblong, the
quick coffee, oblong tutors. Again, did
this make you see things differently than we currently do?
9.
Mr. Calpaldi is making a “portrait” of Josie
that he wants Klara to inhabit if something happens to Josie. Can you imagine that working for Chrissie?
10.
How did the Sun heal Josie? What was the “special nourishment” (page 285)?
11.
It wasn’t until the end of the book that we read
the words “genetic editing” (page 243). Did you suspect that was what was happening?
12.
When everyone was in the city and they were
going to the theater, a woman came up to them and asked if “the machine” was
going into the theater. She later said,
“First they take the jobs. Then they
take the seats at the theater” (page 238).
Do you think this is a natural reaction to having AFs among us?
13.
At the end of the novel, Mr. Calpaldi said there
was “growing and widespread concern about AFs” (page 293). He wanted to “open” Klara and see how she was
made. The Mother said, no, that Klara
deserved her “slow fade” (page 294). Who
do you think was right?
14.
At the end of the novel, when Klara was at the
place for old AFs, Manager came to visit.
Klara told her about Mr. Calpaldi not thinking there was anything
special in people, but Klara said, “There was something very special, but it
wasn’t inside Josie. It was inside those
who loved her” (page 302). How could she
have this insight? Do you think this was
one message the author wanted to convey?
15.
On the last page, why did Manager walk with a
limp, similar to Josie’s?
16.
Discuss your reading experience. Did you emphasize with Klara and start to think
of her as a person?
17.
Do you think a teenager or young adult would relate differently to
this book than a senior citizen?
18.
This book was #10 on Amazon’s top 20 books of
2021 and included in The New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books of the
Year. Why did it receive such
recognition?
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