The book is divided into six days (six chapters) and describes how Stevens travels down to the West Country, as he claims, for rest and relaxation, but the true reason he travels down there is that he wants to see Miss Kenton again. Miss Kenton has been Stevens’ long-time love interest, but he has never told her of this fact. His whole excursion, deep into the West Country, takes Stevens back into his past and he also discovers that the locals still recall the significance of what went on in Darlington Hall shortly before the outbreak of World War II.
By the end of this novel, Stevens has to face the fact that he will never marry and have a family of his own. Stevens, for most of his life, has pushed all kinds of feelings and emotions to the far recesses of his mind, and felt safe in the knowledge that by doing so, he somehow has become a ‘better butler’.
“Human kind cannot bear very much reality.” – T.S. Eliot
This quotation by T.S. Eliot, for me, epitomises Stevens as a character, as he at least suspects that he has wasted his life, but yet cannot bring himself to face reality. Stevens compensates for this by elaborating his role, so that he makes himself believe that his life has been worthwhile.
Stevens has also lived a life of natural sterility, which I believe has made his world revolve around every aspect of Darlington Hall from the running of it, to its welfare, and nothing else.
Not only does this book cover Stevens’ emotional journey that he and Miss Kenton take but also shows the reader of Stevens’ relationship with his father, including how Stevens reacts to his father’s death. Stevens does not appear to have any love for his father, and only ever communicates on a professional level. The only time they ever show anything more than mutual respect for each other is when Stevens is talking to his father on his death bed, and even then, Stevens appears to be more interested in what is going on downstairs, and leaves his father’s death bed to wait at table downstairs. Also, Ishiguro shows us how Stevens seems to care more for the welfare of Lord Darlington’s guests than for his own dying father. This is shown when the French gentleman, M. Dupont complains about his sore foot and Stevens leaves his dying father’s bedside to be of service to M. Dupont. After Lord Darlington’s guests have left and his father has died, he compliments himself on how well he managed to deal with the situation. He believes that it has shown how professional he can be under extreme circumstances. However, I believe that this is the wrong attitude to have, and by neglecting his duties as a son, he should not celebrate such a success, as it is his father who has died.
Another moment in the novel where Stevens makes another big mistake is when he dismisses the two German Jewish girls that he had only just recently hired just because Lord Darlington did not want any Jews in his staff. When he passes the news of the German girls’ imminent dismissals on to Miss Kenton, she questions Stevens as to why he did not try to prevent it. However, when Lord Darlington realises he has made a grave miscalculation, it is too late, as Stevens cannot find the two girls again. However I believe that the whole situation could have been averted if Stevens had questioned Lord Darlington’s judgement; I am sure that he could have reasoned with Lord Darlington, and would have prevented the two Jewish girls from leaving his service. But unfortunately Stevens believes that such an act would be most unprofessional and that is the last thing he would have liked to do.
Stevens does not want to come to terms with how his life has turned out. He tried to block the void he had for love and affection, with professionalism and hard work. This approach however, was certain to fail, and he sees what have might have been when Miss Kenton moves with Mr. Benn to the West Country.
Kazuo Ishiguro has I think done well in portraying the life of traditional English butler and his never-ending struggle between professionalism and his own emotional needs. I believe that if Stevens had had brothers and sisters, they would have helped him to change his profession, because I, and most probably they, would not agree that you can fully live out your life, by serving other people’s needs. Maybe it is possible, if they do not serve their employers constantly, but Stevens, on his never-ending quest to become the perfect butler, is always using his stilted idiom and gets used to ignoring any kind of emotion. Miss Kenton mentions this when she tells Stevens that he,
“Never hires any pretty girls, in case they become a distraction. Well, well, is Mr. Stevens flesh and bones like the rest of us after all?”
I think that Stevens wants to be a butler in service for a longer period of time than his father’s, which is, in itself, a sort of challenge for him. It also shows that he thinks he could be considered one of the greatest butlers of all time. I believe that the full reality of Stevens’ situation becomes apparent to him right at the very end of the film adaptation of the novel, Remains of the Day, when he sets a pigeon free, after it gets caught in the furniture of a spare room of Darlington Hall. As Stevens watches the bird fly off out of sight, I believe that he is reminded of Miss Kenton, and on how she decided that she had had enough of working for other people, and so instead decided to ‘fly away’ and start a family and a new life with Mr. Benn. The pigeon also represents Miss Kenton, in the sense that she is probably Steven’s last hope of love and of becoming part of a family.
In one of the final scenes of the novel, Miss Kenton and Stevens are promenading along the pier. In this scene, the reader can sense the grievances felt between Stevens and Miss Kenton, now Mrs. Benn. When Miss Kenton leaves Stevens standing in the rain in one of the final scenes of the book, the reader can tell, through Ishiguro’s dramatisation of the scene, that this parting will be the last time that they see each other, and is a critical point in the novel. Stevens tells us that he has only work to look forward to, yet even that may soon end as he tells the reader that he has lost his enthusiasm for the job and feels that he no longer has anything to offer to Mr. Farraday. This is the point, I believe, when Stevens fully realises his isolation to the rest of the world, which has been building up throughout the years. When Lord Darlington was still at Darlington Hall, Stevens created emotional barriers, which he used to block out all emotions from his day-to-day life. However these barriers have remained and made Stevens incapable of any sort of relationship and will be the cause of his loneliness in the latter part of his life.
I believe now that Stevens has nothing left to live for; the remains of his life will be spent alone, continuing to serve Mr. Farraday. I do not believe that Stevens will ever have any future relationships because in my opinion, Miss Kenton was his last chance for a family and happiness.
Word count: 1586