Cannibalism as a Metaphor of Consumerism in David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas

Abstract

This paper explores the representation of cannibalism in David Mitchell’s novel, Cloud Atlas, and delineates two levels on which it appears; the first context portrays cannibalistic tribes, while the second one displays an industry of producing and recycling human clones as fast food. In addition, this analysis focuses on the confrontation of what it means to be civilized or savage, and on the emerging social issues revolving around consumer culture, as the juxtaposition of consumer society and the figure of the cannibal challenges the concept of consumer society by questioning if it is civilised at all or not.