Reflection Of Human Nature In David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas

1308 Words3 Pages

All Truth is Constructed and Deconstructed Human 's possess an innate ability to repeat their actions, emotions, and ambitions because they are unchanging and transcend time. Because literature is a reflection of humanity, good, insightful literature calls attention to common, relatable ground. Although a superficial examination of human nature may portray differences, the similarities are ultimately there under the surface; just as David Mitchell uses the Russian-Doll structure of his novel Cloud Atlas to express the transcendent nature of humanity. Each story, although superficially lacking cohesion, contain underlying elements connecting each of them to one another. Ideals held so confidently with the world are called into question within …show more content…

Due to the novel being broken up into sections of separate stories rather than chapters that all consistently follow the same story, Cloud Atlas is unable to follow a traditional literary pattern. Although each individual story has its own narrative, in the first half of the novel, the stories are interrupted and transitioned into a new story without completion until the section picks back up later into the novel. In the first section, Adam Ewing is writing in his …show more content…

If the reader focuses very closely at the details surrounding Somni, it becomes clear she is given the highest honors throughout the novel. Beginning with the fact that Somni 's story is about her ascension as she gains knowledge without prior opinions due to her robotic nature, with the following story, “Sloosha 's Crossin ' an ' Ev 'rythin ' After”, presenting her as a diety, it is inevitable for the reader to trust her. During her interview with the archivist, she is asked why she contributed to the conspiracy with Hae-Joo, and she answers, “Why does any martyr cooperate with his judases?” (349). With even her name, Sonmi, it appears to be a subliminal message meaning “Son Me” or “Son In Me” relating to Jesus Christ as the son of God. If in fact Mitchell is manipulating the story to force readers into having a biased view point on his characters, such as Sonmi~451, then how can the reader trust that the events are factual and not exaggerated or even

Open Document