The main characters are Nelly Dean and Mr Stevens who share many similarities such as their social role – butler and housekeeper and most of all their purpose of dual role narrators because they have both been part of the ‘action’ and both emphasise the points they feel strongly about. This gives reliability but on the other hand conversations are recorded which is suggestive of unreliability because accurate recall of conversations over years would be difficult. The narrators are unreliable in different ways because of their personality, in Nelly Dean the unreliability comes from the clouded views and pro-active attitude which could see over exaggerated points or inaccurate perceptions due to coloured views one of the main example of this is her treatment of Heathcliff when he first comes to Wuthering Heights, she depersonalises him and uses derogatory terms to describe him such as “gipsy brat” and “stupid little thing” her attitude remains similar throughout the novel even when Heathcliffs behaviour changes. In Remains of the Day the unreliability comes from self-denial because he refuses to accept the truth and keeps up false hopes especially concerning Miss Kenton. Unreliability could also stems from errors in Mr Stevens work “a number of small errors have surfaced of late” which is obviously important to him because of the amount of detail he chooses to include and the repetition of these points. The reinforcement of his father making similar errors before his death is suggesting that it could be a trait shared or that it could be due to old age. Unreliability of narrators is a key point in both novels because it is reported as the truth but cannot be accepted fully as the truth because of these traits, making an unstable footing for the plots. This device allows the reader to draw their own conclusions and interpretations about the novel which as mentioned before lets more levels and variations of understanding occur.
Pathetic fallacy is another authorial technique used in both novels, predominantly in Wuthering Heights to convey extreme emotion. For example in Wuthering Heights thunderstorms and ice are used often “on that bleak hill top the earth was hard with a black frost, and the air made me shiver through every limb” this is a very powerful example of pathetic fallacy used, it suggests isolation and coldness, dark colours are also used a lot in the description of Wuthering Heights suggesting melancholy. In Remains of the Day it is used very differently as calmness, rain and greyness are used most often “…simply staring at the rain from the window of my table” which suggests misery and stand still also a lack of hope or ambition, towards the end of the novel “the sky over the sea has turned a pale red” suggests change as it contrasts so strongly with the other uses of pathetic fallacy throughout the novel. This technique is important in both conveying emotion on a subconscious level because it has an effect without the reader knowing it.
An interesting point in Remains of the Day is who the audience is as the narration makes direct links to the reader in the use of “you” which can be quite intrusive. Explanations could be that it is somewhat of a diary of journal entry so the audience is himself as he is undertaking the journey alone, or it could well be that there is no audience as it is a review of memories with little actual verbalisation, more in the way of description which contradicts the view that the narration is for himself as such description wouldn’t be necessary. Wuthering Heights has the obvious audience of Lockwood who is hearing the story from Nelly, but on some occasions Lockwood retells Nelly’s narration to an unknown audience which could be him simply making sense of the information received. This has an impact on reliability because details have been told twice so there is room for error and alteration of the truth. Which again has the effect of leaving the novel open for the reader to make their own judgement.
In the novels there is a strong contrast between characters which has the effect of either sympathy in Remains of the Day as it reinforces that Stevens is alone somewhat while in Wuthering Heights it serves as showing the extreme difference between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcroft Grange and offers a suggesting of explanation of the way characters are as their settings would effect behaviour, it reinforces the issue of it being a very closed environment. In Remains of the Day the contrast is between Stevens and most of the other people in the ‘present day’ world as he doesn’t seem to know how to fit in “indeed, the local people were now observing a polite silence, awaiting my next remark” and “…and had been seriously worried at how he might be viewing my repeated failure to respond to such openings” showing that he is around people but is still isolated because he doesn’t know how to react to them. Which, comes back to the point of the unreliable narrator, as if he doesn’t know how to react to people he is prone to misjudge and make mistakes. In Wuthering Heights the sense of contrast comes between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcroft Grange ‘…and we saw –ah! It was beautiful – a splendid place carpeted with crimson and crimson covered chairs and tables, and pure white ceiling bordered by gold, a shower of glass-drops hanging in silver chains’ suggesting wealth and awe of the Thrushcroft Grange. This acts as a powerful difference because it is the first introduction of colour into the novel, which has a significant visual effect in comparing the two places. Contrasts between characters in Wuthering Heights would include Joseph with Lockwood, Heathcliff with himself as he changes half way through the novel so the two different aspects of his character contrast and Heathcliff and Edgar Linton “Mrs Linton begged that her darlings might be kept apart from that ‘naughty swearing boy’” this gives immediate contrast and the effect on the reader is feeling some sympathy towards Heathcliff for the unfair and prejudiced attitudes towards him which continues when they become suitors to Catherine which sees the conflict increased immensely “Heathcliffs violent nature was not prepared to endure the appearance of impertinence from one who he seemed to hate, even then, as a rival”
The time frame is a very obvious difference between the novels as Remains of the Day spans just under a week in the present which has the effect of seeing short-term changes in Stevens; it is much more condensed than Wuthering Heights which spans at least a year in the present. The short time frame of Remains of the Day allows a concentrated glimpse into a life of Stevens which alternatively is absent with characters of Wuthering Heights. The date the stories are set is also effected by the time delay as in Remains of the day this time delay is very short so not much happens in the ‘present world’ leaving the emphasis on Stevens character and comparing it to what he has told us of his character in the past. Wuthering Heights, because it spans decades sees more changes as there are many more deaths, births and people moving around that the emphasis is highly placed on these features making the plot the main attraction. However in the retrospect aspect of the novels they both cover around the same amount of time of around 30 years the main difference being that in Wuthering Heights its in 1770-1802 while Remains of the Day spans from the 1920’s to 1956 which has implications of the industrial revolution and in general the changes that would have occurred during this time making the settings very different despite sharing similarities of both being set in a country like area and both covering the same amount of time in retrospect.
Although the theme of unrequited love is present in both novels but again expressed more overtly in Wuthering Heights where there are more ‘purple patches’ of extreme emotion whereas remains of the day is more evenly spread, which could stand as a metaphor for the types of characters in each novel, remains of the day sees Stevens as steady and reliable whereas Wuthering Heights has more erratic characters of Catherine and Heathcliff which is reflected in how the story is structured in terms of action. The unrequited love in remains of the day comes in the form of Miss Kenton as he has high hopes and expectations of what could be but never will. The meeting with miss Kenton/Mrs Benn is portrayed as relatively emotional which has a strong effect on the reader “you really mustn’t let any more foolish ideas come between yourself and the happiness you deserve” suggesting that the false hope he harbours is preventing him form finding happiness and the realisation sets in on Mr Stevens that indeed she is right. This theme is more predominant in Wuthering Heights with the obvious love between Catherine and Heathcliff even after she has gone which is not hidden “oh my hearts darling; hear me this time, Catherine, at last!” Which comes after Lockwoods dream in which he sees Catherine’s spectre at the window and even in death they are portrayed as together “they’s Heathcliff, and a woman” which strongly symbolises the unrequited love between them as Catherine betrayed this and married Edgar but still remained faithful to her love for Heathcliff and introduces a gothic quality giving the novel a darker and more unrealistic feel. Another example of unrequited love in Wuthering Heights is that of Lockwood and his story of why he proved himself unworthy of a comfortable home. “…a real goddess in my eyes, as long as she took no notice of me” this is quite a sad tale and has the effect of sympathy for Lockwood as it would seem that he had the same problem as Stevens of not knowing how to react to other people.
