Analysis Of Cloud Atlas Based On Michel Foucault’s Body Thoughts

As a recently rising star in contemporary English literature, David Mitchell (1969-) hasaroused the interest of many readers with his outstanding literary achievement. His works ofgeographical width and historical depth incarnate his sincere concern about people’s survivalcondition. Cloud Atlas (2004), considered as the most famous novel of Mitchell, has won forthe author various literary awards since its publication. The novel is made up of six seeminglyirrelevant but actually interlocking stories and each episode focuses its own protagonist: thenotary Adam, the musician Robert, the reporter Luisa, the publisher Timothy, the clone serverSonmi~451and the sheepherder Zachry. Although they live in different time and locations,their experiences present individual rejection and resistance to the rules imposed by others.With an increasing amount of academic studies on Cloud Atlas in western literary circle,some researches from the perspectives of intertextuality, narrative strategy, Utopia,transmigration, posthuman have been published. However, academic studies on Mitchell andhis works at home are rather fragmentary. Generally speaking, most of the previous studiesare just introductory reviews and there are very few critical writings focusing on systematicand profound analysis. This thesis, based on Foucault’s body thoughts, attempts to interpretthe description and discipline of power mechanism towards body and the resistance andself-shaping of the individuals. According to Foucault, body is primarily written by discoursepower, as a result, the abnormal and madness come into being. Then, the whole society like apanopticon controls and disciplines the bodies, which will become more and more docile anduseful in the process. Nevertheless, where there is power, there is resistance. Body is not onlythe passive power object, but also the resistant with the ability to subvert and self-shape.The thesis consists of five parts. Introduction includes a brief study on David Mitchell and his works, literature review onCloud Atlas, as well as an overview of Foucault’s body thoughts and the arrangement of thisthesis.Chapter One discusses the description and exclusion of discourse power towards body inthe novel, focusing on the survival condition of the mad, the non-heterosexual and the inferior.As power objects, they might be excluded, oppressed, enslaved and even slaughtered.Chapter Two analyzes how disciplinary techniques, such as hierarchical observation,normalizing judgment, the examination, etc., are operated in Aurora House and Nea SoCopros to normalize people and maintain their order. It is argued that in Cloud Atlas the old inAurora House and the fabricants in Nea So Copros are confined in a network of omnipresentsurveillance and discipline. Any deviation or violation of norms or laws will be punished.Under the control of disciplinary power, the bodies will get docile and useful.Chapter Three explores how Autua, Sonmi~451and Luisa resist the rules imposed byothers, such as the Maori, the pureblood and Seaboard Incorporated, and then achieve theprogress of self-shaping. With an indomitable spirit, Autua constantly attempts to flee.Although being caught back several times, he never gives up the eagerness and pursuit tofreedom. With the help of Mr D’Arnoq and Adam, he eventually gets a job as a sailor.Similarly, Sonmi~451gradually quests and unveils the truth that the fabricants are actuallyenslaved and slaughtered by the pureblood, making the idea of resistance deeply rooted in theminds of the fabricants. She through calmly facing death gets rid of the shackles of slaverytowards body and overturns the master-slave relationship with the pureblood. Luisa Rey, ayoung female reporter, unveils the conspiracy that a new nuclear plant supported by SeaboardIncorporated is not as safe as the official line. In order to explore the truth and resist the powerof the oil tycoons, she almost pays for her own life. It is proved that the body can also resistand self-shape, though it might be defined and disciplined by power. Conclusion summarizes the thesis. It comes to a conclusion that the dilemma andstruggle of the characters in Cloud Atlas also symbolize the situation of all mankind inmodern society where the control of power towards body pervades. People should learn thenecessity and importance of positive resistance and self-shaping to shape a different and betterself in face of the challenges and difficulties in life. The novel reflects Mitchell’s deepconcern for human’s survival condition and struggle in modern society permeated with powerrelations.