Assess the effectiveness of the last section as a conclusion to the novel.

Most of the sections of the novel begin with the present but end reminiscing about the past, in contrast the last section begins with the present and conversely concludes also in the present. Through this structure, technique Ishiguro shows the reader Stevens’s character having developed in distinction to the start of the book. In my opinion, the novel seems to be a battle between Stevens living his present life and leaving his past life. The fact that Ishiguro ends with Stevens talking in the present, conveys him adapting to the present and finally leaving the past behind him, just as the man on the bench recommended “cease looking back so much…try to make the best of what Remains of the Day…” His adaptation portrays his realization of lost opportunities in his life.

I believe the meeting of Miss Kenton and Stevens in this section is probably the climax of the novel, for the first time we are met with Stevens’s true emotions not his mask of a butler, the idea of him having split personalities is suggested by the cover of the ‘Faber and Faber’ version of the novel. Stevens’s personality is split from a dignified butler to a human with emotions (which we rarely see through the novel). When Miss Kenton voices regret at not spending her life with Stevens, it makes him realize how much better it would have been for both of them if they had been the ones to marry. It is at this point that Stevens tells us that his heart is breaking—an astounding revelation from a character that gives virtually no evidence of any emotion, during the course of the novel, not even when his father dies.

In focus on Miss Kenton’s and Stevens’s meeting, there is a point whereby Stevens is smiling to himself as pointed out by Miss Kenton, when questioned on this, he replies “with a laugh” that in one of her letters she mentions how her “life stretches like an emptiness before” her, the fact he finds this amusing is quite heartless. I feel that Miss Kenton and Stevens almost have lead similar lives in relation to missing out on opportunities, she once believed getting married was “foolish” and anyone who did was “bound to be let down”, yet she goes against her views eventually and does so.

Conversely, once Miss Kenton leaves Darlington Hall and gets married she also leaves Stevens alone in the world of isolation. When she mentions being unhappy, he feels she has come back to him, in the sense that they again share the same emotion of unhappiness, this pleases him. As readers, we see this as callous however, with a life like Stevens’s someone being at the same level of unhappiness brings him warmth as to feeling he is not alone. Miss Kenton denies his claim of being unhappy and her response leaves him silenced as suggested by the narrative. This may be what drives him to his change, or as I see it his true self-appearing on the surface.

The leaving of the bus is an object in-which ishiguro uses to represent Stevens’s past leaving him. All that remains of his past is Miss Kenton. The end of their reunion ends on the note of Stevens stating, “we may never meet again”. Instantaneously Ishiguro goes on to subject of the pier lights being switched on and “a loud cheer’ being given by the crowd ‘to greet the event” this links in with the thoughts of the reader ‘cheering’ the fact that, Stevens has finally let go of his past.

Coming to the end of the last section, Stevens finally breaks down during the evening when he is sitting on the pier, reaching at last the realization that he has deluded himself throughout his entire life. He finally questions aloud the use of being loyal to someone who used bad judgment, and finally sees how it may be foolish to completely accept someone else's judgment in place of one's own. Indeed, Stevens suddenly realizes that such blind loyalty may not be very dignified after all. It is in this part of the novel that Stevens's role as a perfect, poised butler - crumbles, and his real self, a sad disillusioned man, takes over the story.

The man next to Stevens cheers him up by telling him, not to look back or focus on regret and lost opportunity so much. Finally, Stevens comforts himself with the thought that there is dignity in the fact that he willingly sacrificed other things in life in order to devote himself to Lord Darlington. Small as this comfort may be, it seems enough for Stevens, who then tells us about his plans to improve his skills at bantering in an attempt to better serve his new employer. Stevens realises “that bantering is a way of reaching out to others and that it is people, not empty dreams, which must fill the void and give him a future to look forward to” .

Although Stevens never overtly discusses what he thinks "regret" may mean, it becomes clear, when he breaks down and cries at the end in this section of the novel, that he wishes he had acted differently with regard to  and .

The tone of the novel is often wistful or nostalgic for the past, as the story goes on, the tone deepens into one of regret as Stevens re-evaluates his past actions and decisions, and finds them unwise. Miss Kenton also openly says in this section that she often regrets the choices she has made in her own life. The overwhelming sadness of the ending is only slightly lifted by Stevens resolving to perfect the art of bantering; it seems a meagre consolation considering the irreparable losses he has experienced in life. Throughout the novel Stevens tends to be in a liminal state of mind, however in-order to bring the book to a so-called happy ending as do most novels, Ishiguro brings in the idea of him changing as a person.

It is not clear, in the end, the extent to which Stevens realizes he has deceived himself. After all, as he never has known anything outside of his own limited existence, it may be difficult, if not impossible, for him to fully appreciate what he has missed.

Critics suggest, “The ‘Remains of the Day’ is a story both beautiful and cruel”. In summary, the novel is primarily about a man who puts absolute trust and devotion in a man who makes drastic mistakes. In the totality of his professional commitment, Stevens fails to pursue the one woman with whom he could have had a fulfilling and loving relationship. “His prim mask of formality cuts him off from intimacy, companionship and understanding”.

As a conclusion to the novel the last section is slightly optimistic, however the last section emphasizes the main plot of a tragic story of regret and missed opportunities.