Discuss the part played by the narrator in two, or more texts. The two books I have chosen to compare are The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and A Fragment of Stained Glass by D. H. Lawrence.

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Discuss the part played by the narrator in two, or more texts.

The two books I have chosen to compare are The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and A Fragment of Stained Glass by D. H. Lawrence. This essay, will give a brief outline of both text, I have studied, and show any similarities or differences, I have found between them.

Kazuo Ishiguro wrote The Remains of the Day and had his book first published in 1989. He was a post war time writer. The story is set in the summer of 1956. Our narrator and lead character is an ageing butler called Stevens. The story is of Stevens six day trip to the westcountry. During his travels, he reflects over his past history, remembering his old, now dead employer, Lord Darlington. Stevens is also remenising about Lord Darlington's old housekeeper Miss Kenton whom which he now has very deep feelings for and is hoping to see during the course of his journey.

D. H. Lawrence wrote A Fragemnt of Stained Glass in 1914, obviously sometime before. Lawrence was a pre war writer. The story is really broken into two parts. The first part is set in a vicarge of Beauvale where a vicar called Mr Colbran who is also an archaeologist and his guest are both dining. The vicar's guest is the original narrator. However the second part of the story is told by the vicar himself. The vicar tells his own written story. The vicar's story narrator is a stable boy. The story tells about how the stable boy murdered a horse which then led to a chain reaction of events which caused the young stable boy to flee for his life. The vicar then becomes the main narrator as he reads his story to his guest with no interruptions.

Both stories are written in the first narative, even though Lawrence manganges to change the narrator of his story half way through. Both stories are very descriptive as to what our narrators are feeling and thinking. In The Remains of the Day Stevens is always analysing his thoughts and questioning his own motives and actions. Looking at the next passage taken from the book we can see an example of Stevens over analitical mind.
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" I made my exit, and it was not until after I had done so that it occurred to me I had not actually offered her my condolences. I could well imagine the blow the news would be like to her, her aunt having been, to all intents and purposes, like a mother to her, and I paused out in the corridor, wondering if I should go back, knock and make good my ommission. But then it occurred to me that if I were to do so, I might easily intrude upon her private grief. Indeed it was ...

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