Previous Next

Summary: Part 4, Section 2

From Klara & the Mother’s conversation to the Father & Miss Helen’s argument

The Mother and Klara leave. In the car, the Mother tells Klara that she has agreed to do this with Mr Capaldi because she won’t be able to survive another one of her children dying. The Mother reveals that it was her decision to get Josie lifted, which in turn caused Josie’s illness. She tells Klara that if Klara agrees to be Josie, the Mother will love her more than anyone in the world, and she will also let her be with Rick despite his being unlifted. Klara agrees to do it, and the Mother hugs her. 

They are parked outside of a restaurant where Josie and the Father are eating, and after her conversation with Klara the Mother gets out and goes into the restaurant. A few minutes later the Father appears alone and gets into the car with Klara. He offers to drive her around, and Klara tells him to take her to the area where her old store was, secretly planning on finding the Cootings Machine. On the way, he wonders aloud if Klara could really ever learn Josie’s heart enough to become her. 

Klara reveals to the Father the true purpose of her mission, without telling him about her deal with the Sun. He doesn’t understand why she needs to destroy the Cootings Machine, but agrees to do it if she thinks it will help Josie. They find it, and Klara asks him if he knows how to disable it, as he used to be an engineer. The Father knows of a solution called P-E-G Nine that, if poured into the machine, would stop it from functioning. Klara has some of the solution inside of her machinery, and agrees to let the Father siphon some of it out of her body to break the machine. He tells her he’s not an expert, and that doing so could affect her cognitive abilities, but she tells him to do it anyway in order to save Josie. 

Klara and the Father arrive at the sushi restaurant where they meet up with Josie, Rick, Miss Helen, and the Mother, who is outside of the restaurant on a phone call. Josie looks distracted and subdued; Klara tries to figure out if her mental faculties have been damaged at all from the removal of the P-E-G solution but struggles to know for sure. Over dinner, Miss Helen tries to coach Rick on how to behave with Vance, her “secret weapon,” in order to win his favor. The Father encourages Rick on the work he’s done with his bird drones, and Miss Helen begins to tell the Father about Vance, with whom she once had a relationship. She is clearly excited to see Vance, but while describing him to the Father notes that both Vance and the Father have “fascistic leanings.” The Father takes issue with Miss Helen saying this in front of the children, but it is revealed that the Father lives in a closed community that defends itself with guns, and is made up of white people who are all formerly professional-elite.

Previous section Part 4, Section 1 Next section Part 4, Section 3

Take a Study Break