Cloud Atlas

by

David Mitchell

Hawaii Symbol Icon

Throughout the novel, Hawaii symbolizes how most humans live both in isolation and as part of a larger society at the same time. Although the stories of Cloud Atlas take place in a wide variety of locations and time periods, one location the action repeatedly returns to is Hawaii, which often symbolizes the endpoint of a journey. Adam Ewing takes the Prophetess to Hawaii, where the enslaved Moriori man Autua hopes to finally earn his freedom. Centuries later, fabricants like Sonmi~451 seemingly get sent to Hawaii after 12 years of service to live out their retirement—but in fact, Hawaii is a lie, and the fabricants get butchered to become food. Thus, Hawaii connects characters and stories that would otherwise seem disparate and unrelated. On the other hand, Hawaii, as a remote island, also symbolizes isolation. Many of Cloud Atlas’s characters live in solitary conditions, becoming figurative “islands” themselves. Sonmi, for example, lives in solitary confinement, while Timothy Cavendish also finds himself imprisoned and separated from his old life after he gets trapped in a nursing home. But isolation can also have its advantages; for instance, the only reason why Zachry and the Valleysmen people survive a nuclear apocalypse is that they live on their own remote island. And so, Hawaii  And so, paradoxically, Hawaii links many of the stories in the novel while also representing isolation, encapsulating both Cloud Atlas’s nested structure and its themes of human connection and isolation.

Hawaii Quotes in Cloud Atlas

The Cloud Atlas quotes below all refer to the symbol of Hawaii. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Cycles of History Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

He jabbed at his eyes & jabbed at mine, as if that single gesture were ample explanation.

Related Characters: Adam Ewing (speaker), Autua
Related Symbols: Hawaii
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

The economics of corpocracy. The genomics industry demands huge quantities of liquefied biomatter, for wombtanks, but most of all, for Soap. What cheaper way to supply this protein than by recycling fabricants who have reached the end of their working lives? Additionally, leftover “reclaimed proteins” are used to produce Papa Song food products, eaten by consumers in the corp’s dineries all over Nea So Copros. It is a perfect food cycle.

Related Characters: Sonmi~451 (speaker), The Archivist, Hae-Joo Im, Papa Song
Related Symbols: Hawaii
Page Number: 343
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Cloud Atlas LitChart as a printable PDF.
Cloud Atlas PDF

Hawaii Symbol Timeline in Cloud Atlas

The timeline below shows where the symbol Hawaii appears in Cloud Atlas. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Cycles of History Theme Icon
Greed Theme Icon
Slavery and Imprisonment Theme Icon
...the captain doesn’t give the order to fire. Captain Molyneux agrees to take Autua to Hawaii, if he works for no pay. (full context)
Chapter 3
Cycles of History Theme Icon
Greed Theme Icon
13. Rufus places a call to Hawaii while watching Grimaldi and Lloyd on TV. He expects to hear Megan on the other... (full context)
Chapter 5
Cycles of History Theme Icon
Greed Theme Icon
Slavery and Imprisonment Theme Icon
...other workers, the fabricants with 12 stars get taken away in Papa Song’s Ark to Hawaii. (full context)
Chapter 6
Cycles of History Theme Icon
Greed Theme Icon
...the whole truth. According to Duophysite, there are just five Prescients with him in Hah-Way (Hawaii), one on each island. They’ve long feared that the plague would wipe out the last... (full context)
Chapter 7
Cycles of History Theme Icon
Greed Theme Icon
Slavery and Imprisonment Theme Icon
Aging and Mortality Theme Icon
...and manage to infiltrate the Ark (which is supposedly a ship set to sail to Hawaii) without much difficulty, since few people have any desire to enter the Ark illegally. (full context)
Cycles of History Theme Icon
Greed Theme Icon
Slavery and Imprisonment Theme Icon
Aging and Mortality Theme Icon
...sing the psalm of Papa Song as they prepare to be “exulted” and taken to Hawaii. But when Hae-Joo and Sonmi enter the next room, everything is quiet. Three aids greet... (full context)
Cycles of History Theme Icon
Greed Theme Icon
Slavery and Imprisonment Theme Icon
Aging and Mortality Theme Icon
...protests that fabricants have rights, and Sonmi herself saw fabricants in an ark headed toward Hawaii at Papa Song’s, but Sonmi says those images are computer-generated. The Archivist doesn’t back down... (full context)
Chapter 9
Cycles of History Theme Icon
...someone who just flew in. 66. Megan Sixsmith (Rufus’s niece) just got into town from Hawaii. She and Luisa meet at a modern art museum, while Napier stands discreetly nearby. Megan... (full context)
Chapter 11
Cycles of History Theme Icon
Greed Theme Icon
Slavery and Imprisonment Theme Icon
...big that Henry has to cut off his wedding ring. Henry knows a goldsmith in Hawaii who can repair the ring later. Christmas Day—Although the dinner is better than usual, Adam... (full context)
Cycles of History Theme Icon
Aging and Mortality Theme Icon
...sacs have burst and that he will die in hours, still two days away from Hawaii. Adam starts writing an unfinished sentence to his son Jackson Ewing about what to do... (full context)
Cycles of History Theme Icon
Greed Theme Icon
Slavery and Imprisonment Theme Icon
Aging and Mortality Theme Icon
...weak Adam down a gangplank and off the ship onto what seems to be Honolulu, Hawaii. Autua carries Adam to some nuns at a Catholic mission. (full context)