Imagine if you lived in a world where you could only have one friend and you weren’t allowed to pick who it was. This is the case for the main protagonist Klara in the book Klara and The Sun By Kazuo Ishiguro. Klara is the narrator of the book, and is AF or artificial friend which are designed to be bought by families to watch after and be friends with children. In Klara and the Sun the audience learns about the world as Klara learns the world, this is seen in Klara’s understanding of the outside world, Klara’s understanding of emotions, and Klara’s understanding of relationships.

The book starts off with Klara sitting in the AF store looking through the main window into the outer world. Throughout the introduction of the book we learn with Klara what the outside world is like, however our understanding is limited because the main window only reveals so much. From this window, Klara can only see the building across the way, partial parts of the road, and the sidewalk. Though the view is limited, Klara spends every second analyzing and studying what she can see. She notices the sun and its pattern, she watches the people walk by and look into the store, and she ponders questions that she cannot answer. This is most represented when Klara is talking about her view from the window and says “ we were able to watch the outside – the office workers hurrying by, the taxis, the runners, the tourist, beggar man and his dog, the lower part of the RPO building”(Ishiguro 3).

Another life lesson that the audience learns with Klara is how to understand emotions. When Klara is first purchased by Josie, she doesn’t always know how to react in every situation. When Klara was still in the store she never got to see true human emotion; and has had no real experience handling sensitive situations and emotions. However, as the book progresses she understands how emotions can be impactful to different situations. For example when the mother and Klara are at the falls, the Mother says “ it must be nice sometimes to have no feelings. I envy you.” (Ishiguro 97) Klara then expounds with “ I believe I have many feelings the more I observe the more feelings become available to me” (Ishiguro 98) . This scene shows that Klara not only knows how to handle the situation with the mother but also she understands how she is picking up on their emotions.

The last thing the audience learns with Klara is relationships and how they can change. This is a lesson that is most clearly seen in the finale of the book. One defining example of this lesson is Klara’s conversation with Rick. In this scene Klara realizes that she is anxious about Rick and Klara’s separate plans “Rick is correct, it brings me anxiety to see Rick and Josie with such separate plans.” (Ishiguro 288). Rick’s response to Klara brings realization to her that human relationships evolve and that nothing lasts forever, Rick shortly after says “But now we’re no longer kids, we have to wish each other the best and go our different ways”(Ishiguro 288). In this line, Rick explains how he knows that he and Josie will not end up the way they intended, despite planning their whole lives together. After this conversation with Rick, Klara’s perspective of life and relationships has changed drastically. She now knows that naturally people will grow apart like Rick and Josie did and later on how Josie and Klara will.

In Klara and the Sun, the reader learns about the world, human emotions, and relationships as Klara learns about them. This aspect of the book greatly impacts how the reader reads the book and their connection to Klara. In conclusion, Klara narrating the book is a brilliant way to show Klara’s experience being an AF and learning the human ways.