Now at the end of Cloud Atlas, I have found what I consider a plausible meaning of the work as a whole. Looking back, everything points to an idea of continuity and interconnectedness. Looking at the six stories, they suggest a cycle of time (I picture as a sin wave, but considering the comet-shaped birthmark an orbit works, too). What really exemplifies this is the cross over between "The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing" and "Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After." In The Pacific Journal, the cannibalistic Moriori traveled to a neighboring island and massacred and enslaved the peaceful Maori. White sailors with considerably better technology visit the island. Autua, a slave, is described as the last of the Maori and escapes by ship with the help of Adam Ewing. In "Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After," the Valleymen live on a Hawaiian island in peace. The "Prescients," who have darker skin and more "Smart," occasionally visit the Valleymen in their giant ship. But then the Kona, a vicious tribe of savages, cannibals, and slaveholders, invade the Valleymen's land and kill and capture them. Zachry is captured, but rescued by the Prescient Meronym, and the two escape by kayak. The two stories are direct parallels. After centuries, civilization rose to the level in "An Orison of Sonmi-451" only to fall back to where it began. The persistence of the themes in the last post, the book structure of interlocking stories, and the reincarnation motif all suggest a cycle of time.
But while the reader can see the circle of stories, the characters are unaware. As Isaac Sachs said, "[an event] as it actually occurred descends into obscurity as its eyewitnesses die off, documents perish [...] Yet a virtual [event] created from reworked memories, papers, hearsay, fiction- in short, belief- grows ever 'truer'" (Mitchell 392). The phrase "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" comes to mind. Characters in the book only have a weak connection to the past through the documents, and they (especially Zachry and the Valleymen) have a poor knowledge of it. Thus, the past of Moriori and Maori repeats itself with the Kona and Valleymen. But while this endless loop with no net gain might seem demoralizing, Mitchell's tone is undeniably hopeful. Zachry lived through the Kona invasion and escaped to start a family. Sonmi-451 is content in her execution because she knows her Declarations of Fabricant freedom "[...] have been reproduced a billionfold" and will outlast her to create revolution another day (Mitchell 349). Timothy Cavendish defies age expectations and returns to his now successful publishing company. Swannekke is shut down after Luisa Rey successfully goes public with Seaboard Corporation's corruption, from the murders to the dangerous reactor. Frobisher dies satisfied that his life's work, the Cloud Atlas Sextet, is complete, preferring to live a short life that burned brightly instead of something more dull and drawn out, like Ayrs. Adam Ewing survives and decides to devote his life to abolition in an attempt to better the world.
This passage, on the second to last page of Ewing's journal, summarizes it all: "[...] one fine day, a purely predatory world shall consume itself. [...] Is this doom written within our nature? If we believe that humanity may transcend tooth & claw [...] such a world will come to pass. I am not deceived. It is the hardest of worlds to make real. Torturous advances won over generations can be lost by a single stroke of a myopic president's pen or a vainglorious general's sword" (Mitchell 508). Humanity continuously struggles to overcome social injustice, but the characters in Cloud Atlas only manage to keep it from worsening in their small individual fights. Yet there is always hope for progress, and as long as some people work against corruption, like Adam Ewing, Luisa Rey, and Sonmi-451, the world is not quite purely predatory, and its doom is postponed. So even if David Mitchell's book portrays a cycle, he suggests the possibility of social advancement, if only enough people believe in it and fight for it.
This passage, on the second to last page of Ewing's journal, summarizes it all: "[...] one fine day, a purely predatory world shall consume itself. [...] Is this doom written within our nature? If we believe that humanity may transcend tooth & claw [...] such a world will come to pass. I am not deceived. It is the hardest of worlds to make real. Torturous advances won over generations can be lost by a single stroke of a myopic president's pen or a vainglorious general's sword" (Mitchell 508). Humanity continuously struggles to overcome social injustice, but the characters in Cloud Atlas only manage to keep it from worsening in their small individual fights. Yet there is always hope for progress, and as long as some people work against corruption, like Adam Ewing, Luisa Rey, and Sonmi-451, the world is not quite purely predatory, and its doom is postponed. So even if David Mitchell's book portrays a cycle, he suggests the possibility of social advancement, if only enough people believe in it and fight for it.
AP-Worthiness:
There is no doubt in my mind that Cloud Atlas meets AP English standards. Reading it has the typical side effects of headaches and confusion, and even when I'm not reading it I can't help thinking about it and wondering what a particular passage or motif meant. Each of the condensed, 80ish page stories have the potential for individual analysis, and put together I think they present a significant challenge to any AP English student. The symbols, motifs, and complex themes that define AP standards are all there. However, it takes some time to start finding connections and gather enough information for the book to be analyzed, limiting its potential to be taught in a classroom. Also, I'm afraid the sheer number of characters and events will make it hard to recall specific information for the essay question, and the book's unusual structure would have to be explained, wasting valuable time. In short, I'm confident in Cloud Atlas' literary merit, but I'm not so sure about its usefulness in the curriculum.
You clearly illustrated how Mitchell displays the cycle of time and how the main characters such as Luisa and Sonmi rebel against corruption and wrongdoing. Yet, were you not confused to a degree by this hypocrisy? Mitchell suggests time is a cycle; therefore, the actions against cycle would honestly be pointless? Or do you believe in the mentality that Adam Ewing suggests: “‘& only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand, your life amounted to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean!' Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops” (509).
ReplyDeleteAt first glance, the endless cycle does seem demoralizing. But characters' actions are by no means pointless; Ewing's line "[...] one fine day, a purely predatory world shall consume itself" suggests that a person's actions, even if they are as insignificant as a water droplet, are all that keep civilization from its doom (Mitchell 508). In my opinion, Luisa Rey and Sonmi-451's "drops," though not enough to fix humanity, are what preserved society in the cycle and prevented Ewing's prediction of a potential doom. Like I said in my post, the tone of the book is hopeful, indicating if enough "drops" are but together, society can break free of the cycle and improve (Ewing just decided to devote himself to abolitionism, and I doubt he's already second-guessing himself with that quote). That's why I like the picture of a sin curve: even if there is no net gain in the y-direction and the curve is repeating itself, the x-direction continues on to infinity allowing for changes like Meronym's improved technology.
DeleteI really like the way that you compare the fluidity of the sections as sin waves. I had not thought of it that way, but it can fit that model well. I agree with the AP worthiness of it, and was wondering if you thought the allusions that were more apparent in some sections as opposed to others contributed to its AP worthiness.
ReplyDeleteThere were definitely more allusions in the beginning, but that's probably because we wouldn't get allusions to things that happen in the future (Although Papa Song's golden arches seem to reference McDonalds). And while all the allusions add to the difficulty of the piece, I didn't find any that carried a greater meaning beyond the paragraph or so at hand. Then again, I don't have a particularly great history of spotting allusions, so I'd be curios to hear what you thought was significant.
DeleteA really well-written and very thoughtful analysis of the theme, Lily. I feel just the same about the combination of cynicism about human nature (as every section has someone or some group trying to gain or keep power over another) and hopefulness.
ReplyDeleteI finished the book the week after the Boston Marathon bombings and so the ending in particular, reading it while hearing about the manhunt and eventual capture of the perpetrator, really made the theme resonate for me. It's a thought and ending I continually go back to.
Do you think this would be a book that would work to assign as I did Brave New World, with students reading part of it over the summer, and the rest as a class after returning to school? From a teaching perspective, it's the length that would concern me.