Kazuo Ishiguro, October 9, 1995

 Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day is structured in six chapters, each of which recounts the events of a day of Stevens's trip to Weymouth. This six-day structure, it seems to me, underlines the themes discussed above. The footman's advice is a new thought to Stevens, who has always been busy, always at work. He has never enjoyed a Sabbath. The book ends without assuring us that he ever will; in fact, Stevens's very last words indicating his plans to increase his efforts to serve his employer as best he can. I cannot prove that Ishiguro consciously introduced a sabbatical theme by structuring the book as he did. There is nothing to indicate whether or not he is a Christian, and there are few if any other indications in the novel of his being influenced by other biblical patterns and themes. By what right, then, do I assert that The Remains of the Day employs sabbatical imagery, especially in the fairly subtle negative way that I have described? Is this anything more than an example of Christian intellectual imperialism, of a Christianised Procrustean bed?

(from someone's thesis I think)

NOTES - NB: Not as effective swallowed whole - should be chewed around a bit first.

4: S: (about Mr F.'s reservations on S.'s work ethics): "it seemed to be sth. which genuinely troubled him." - This stance is most potent here because: It is showing S.'s naivity in not realising the misbalance in his life, and coming from S.'s mouth, this naivity is indisputable and perhaps a little ironic.

13: S: (about trip) : "You will perhaps understand that there was a natural tendency on my part ... to hint that there was a good professional motive." - direct comment to reader (Tom Jones style) assuming our full comprehension of the situation: draws us into S.'s life; demands our attention to this detail; makes us feel privy to his affairs while we perhaps aren't; S. gives away more than he intends to.

94: S.: "You may not yourself ... take this small precaution to avoid knocking at some highly inappropriate moment, but I always have." - When S. directly addresses reader, it tends to concern his profession, talking to us as a professional. More to the point, an aspiring professional; and given that S.'s (disputable?) only failing in following his dad's footsteps is S.;s lack of child. Does Stevens therefore talks to us as if we were the aspiring butler child he never had?.

Various: Father sits (alone) and watches dawn break when he is told by his son that his butlering days are over ... Stevens sits (turned away from people) and watches sunset when a stranger convinces him to "make the best of what remains of my [his] day."

6: S.: "As you know, finding recruits of a satisfactory standard these days is no easy matter."

7: S. talks of "sharp decline in professional standards." - this shows his dislike of the change.

34: S.: "Our generation has been ... too preoccupied with the trimmings." - gives reason for S. being the perpetual butler, this reason being that he is a minimalist. Ties in also with the bare room situation. What generation is he comparing with?

114: S.: "for our generation, ... professional prestige lay most significantly in the moral worth of one's employer." - S.'s argument against those wanton unprofessionals who would leave a well respected employer for something irrelevant, like a life for example.

114: S.: "We were a much more idealistic generation."

86: Mr Lewis: "Dupont hates Germans ... He hates them with a depth you gentlemen would find hard to understand." - either M. Dupont is small minded, or Mr Lewis is, but either way such well reasoned arguments highlight the irony in placing power in the hands of the aristocracy.

95: S.: "the American gentleman was putting forward the view that M. Dupont was being manipulated by his lordship." - the backhanded, double-dealing aristocratically based politics.

130/40/50ish: S.: "anyone who implies that Lord Darlington was liasing covertly with a known enemy is just conveniently forgetting the true climate of those times."

130/40/50ish: S.: "The state of the silver made a small ... contribution towards the easing of relations ... that evening." - this comment comically satirises / undermines the authority of the conference. Also S. is grasping at straws to give himself importance.

130/40/50ish: S.: "the very fulcrum of events, " is how S. describes the great houses of the time.

195: S.: "I am very sorry sir, I said, but I am unable to be of assistance in this matter." - S. is used by a someone to demonstrate the ludicrousness of placing power in the people, who have a lack of understanding in politics. (a very tenuous point.)

9: S. admits: "I had given myself too much to do."

13: S. (about trip) : "There was a natural tendency on my part ... to hint that there was a good professional motive behind my request." - showing S.'s inability to dislocate himself from his professional duties whilst at D. Hall.

14: S: (about an art of his changing profession): "bantering ... no doubt in the United States ... a kind of affectionate sport." - at this stage in the proceedings S. is condescending about both bantering and the US

33: S.: "'dignity' is something like a woman's beauty." - cause for worry when he later claims his father to be the "embodiment of dignity.", perhaps that's why he never married?!

33: S.: "Dignity is sth. one can meaning strive for throughout one's career." - Apparent lack of emotion in S. can be countered by this quote, as S. believes he is being dignified by hiding any emotion he feels.

42: S.: "'dignity' has to do crucially with a butler's ability not to abandon his professional being." - best looked at contrariwise, that is, were S. to ever act unprofessionally, he would become the abhorrence of a 'lesser butler'. So he must be a 24 hour butler. S. firmly believes this, the question is why and where did he get it from? Thinking laterally, it is logical that S. didn't make it up himself but it was taught to him when he was a young butler, possibly by his father then?

44: S.: "It is surely a professional responsibility for all of us ... strive towards attaining 'dignity' for ourselves." - If it were dignity for ourselves, the why would it be a 'professional responsibility' to do it, and not an individual one?

117: S.: "A 'great' butler ... has applied his talents to serving a great gentleman - and through the latter serving humanity."

135ish: S.: "One's efforts, in however modest a way, compromise a contribution to the course of history." - S. gets all philosophical on us. But the dubious point here is not whether one's actions influence, but whether they influence for the better or worse?

135ish: S.: "I still have before me many years of service I am still required to give."

185: At Mr and Mrs Taylors: "You can count the most powerful in the land as your friends." - S. takes a little sample of being 'dignified'. This quote shows the extent to which he deceived them all. This deception is a big slip in his pursuit of 'dignity', innit?

48: S. believes Miss Kenton is: "alone and desolate."

52 S.: "I am happy to have distractions kept to a minimum." - S. here is talking about material things, but the implication is much broader (i.e. love) given that he is speaking alone with Miss Kenton. Did he mean this to be a strictly professional comment?, and if not, then did he realise how Miss Kenton was going to take it?

55: S. says Miss Kenton: "had no difficulty in gaining the respect of her staff."

59: Miss Kenton: "Whatever your father was once, Mr Stevens, his powers are now greatly diminished." - A direct challenge by Miss Kenton. Herein lies S.'s failing: a great butler would surely take this impersonally and act accordingly to rectify the situation, but S. takes this (because he aspires to be his / better his father) as a personal insult. Another view is that Miss Kenton, in their power struggle which is undeniably taking place, is using Mr Stevens senior (William) as a pawn in the game. This would suggest that S.'s stiff lip was not denial, but in defiance to retain power in the face of his prospective love.

79: S.: "irritating as Miss Kenton's behaviour was, I could not afford to give it much thought." - S.'s priorities concerning Miss Kenton, or perhaps how he would like to portray them to us?

135ish: S.: "one may have exaggerated what evidence there was regarding such a desire on her part." - a little bit of admittance goes a long way with S., give how rare it is. What else does he finally admit to?

147: S.: "these meetings [cocoa] were predominantly professional in nature." - S. must keep his relationship with Miss Kenton professional, to retain 'dignity' (he scorns housekeepers who get married). But also does she want it in the first place, or will he really not let himself? Alternatively, is it that he won't accept his feelings for her, and hides therefore behind his professionalism?

154: Miss Kenton: "Why, Mr Stevens, why, why, why do you always have to pretend?" - ouch. This would imply that she wants to get closer to S., but feels pushed away by his hard exterior.

156: Miss Kenton: "can it be that our Mr Stevens is flesh and blood after all?" - Miss Kenton is just plain offensive to try to get a human reaction out of S. He would no doubt find her turn of phrase despicable. Is he worried that she is getting to know him too well? (combine also with book-discovery scene)

174: (when he cancels cocoa evenings) S.: "I am sorry I had no idea ... they were inconveniencing." - Has S. tried to build up a relationship with Miss Kenton, and failed, which makes him feel betrayed right now? This is possible given the hurt shown in these words. Is he hurt more with himself at being not able to admit to enjoying his time with her?

175: S.: (about Miss Kenton argument): "I was perhaps not entirely aware of the full implications of what I was doing." - Pure, unadulterated regret. He wishes he had reacted differently at the time. Is the cause of his regret that he is not happy with his present situation?

177: S.: "I had bee preoccupied for some hours with the matter of Miss Kenton's sorrow." - this is a rare occasion where S. has shown openly his love / care for someone. However, it did take Miss Kenton to shout at him (p154 quote) to provoke this reaction later.

179: S.: "It was as though one had available a never-ending number of days, months, years in which to sort out the vagaries of one's relationship with Miss Kenton." - flowery language from S.? he must be in love. S. sees so many opportunities he had to have been warmer, more sensitive and open to her.

34: S.: "My father was ... the embodiment of dignity." - Tied in with quote p33, S. therefore is very very proud of his father, his father's actions are S.'s template for his own life. S. may therefore want to be his father, but (irrelevant to quote) would he actually want to be L. Darlington?

37: S.: "At the peak of his career, my father achieved his ambition." - complete pride in his fathers achievements, which makes it all the harder for S. to accept his downfall.

42: S.: "Yet so well did my father hide his feelings, so professionally." - perfect quote to show S.'s aspiration to father, and how S. believes he could succeed in his footsteps.

59: Miss Kenton: "Your father is entrusted with more than a man of his age can cope with." S. is the one dishing out tasks, so it could be said that S. is in denial concerning his father's downfall. Miss Kenton is speaking out of compassion (debatable) yet S. maintains his father is still capable of the same amount of professionalism as ever.

63: S.: "My father and I ... had tended to converse less and less."

97: S.: "I'm very glad father is feeling better." - S. is actually talking to his father here, and the abstract impersonality shows S. devotion to his ideal of professionalism. Would S. talk to his father differently were they not in D. Hall?

97: Mr Stevens senior: "I hope I've been a good father to you."

Stevens: "I'm glad you're feeling better." - This plea by his father for emotion on his deathbed is 'professionally' rejected by S.

4: S; "It has been my privilege to see the very best of England over the years, sir, within these very walls." - Does S. really believe this?; Also illustrates S.'s representation as the Englishman of the time (D. Hall being England).

7: S. has a : "reluctance to change too much ... this age of electricity." - S. is hanging on to past, which leads to this irrational contempt for modernism.

14: "My, my, S.. A lady friend. And at your age." S: "This was a most embarrassing situation." - S.'s inability to converse in any intimate way with employer (why, and could he with anybody else?) Also, S. must be losing time to father children.

24: S. (on leaving) "I had truly left D. Hall behind ... I did feel a slight sense of alarm." - S.'s attachment to D. Hall, he feels insecure on leaving it; has the Hall in absence of family for S. taken on this kind of role?; this quote backed up in that S. checks the Hall all over before leaving.

28: S.: "we call this land of ours GREAT Britain."

70: S.: "that conference ... for more than one reason, regard it as a turning point in my life." - when S. came of age as a butler, retaining his dignity through the turbulent events, most specifically the death of his father. Was there a Miss Kenton situation he was having to deal with here too?

91: S.: "M. Dupont ... seemed to hold the key to the outcome of the following days." - shows S. *privately* attempting to understand the issues his peers are involved in.

92: S.: Mr Cardinals speech was: "technical ... and quite frankly, rather above my head."

98: S.: "the effect produced by unbroken lines of gentlemen ... was a rather severe one."

119: Country bumpkin: "I thought at first, here's a really posh geezer. And so you are, 'guv. Really posh, I mean." - This bumpkin probably represents all the bumpkins of England. This situation gives credit to S.'s decision to hide all his life in D Hall.

122: S.: "distinctly odd behaviour." - is how S. views his lies about his job.

126: S.: "I have chosen to tell white lies in both instances as the simplest means of avoiding unpleasantness."

126: S.: "Nothing could be less accurate than to suggest that I regret my association with such a gentleman." - S. speaks of Lord Darlington. It is interesting to note that Stevens is right to keep faith in his Lord, as it eventually turned out that Lord Darlington was manipulated, or at worst acted in helpless ignorance. But it is debatable whether Stevens did this out of considered opinion; blind faith, or because he didn't credit himself worthy of his own views.

135ish: S.: "I have been endeavouring to add this skill [bantering] to my professional armoury." - extent of S.'s professionalism, and how he builds up his life and character to suit his profession.

195: S.: "I am very sorry sir, I said, but I am unable to be of assistance in this matter." - but does he have an opinion on the subject?

7: S.: "A staff of twenty-eight had been employed here." - to put a figure on the fall of D. Hall.

73: S.: (about L. Darlington): "I for one will never doubt that a desire to see 'justice in this world' lay at the heart of all his actions." - The phrase in inverted commas is sth. S. has picked up whilst eavesdropping on peers? If so, this is evidence of S. really trying to be them, by using their phrase in his speech; Also, S.'s blind acceptance of employer's values as best.

135ish: S.: "Lord Darlington came to abhor anti-Semitism."

135ish: (comedy): S.: "It could easily have been understood that I was suggesting the landlord's wife resembled a cockerel." - the comedy arises from S's inability to successfully integrate with the common people of the country he is devoting his life to. (ironic)

185: S.: "It's not just the cut of your clothes, ... there's something else which marks you as a gentleman."

S mentioned that he was a great butler, but did dad ever really achieve this status???