The Remains of the Day Essay Example for Free

The Remains of the Day Essay Kazuo Ishiguros The Remains of the Day is an intimate portrayal of an utterly English butler through his methodical ruminations on the subjects of greatness and dignity. Stevens, the aging butler of Darlington Hall, performs his job with selflessness and a ruthless suppression of emotion. He is unsentimental, stiffly walking through job and life like an automaton. He presents himself, perhaps unknowingly, as glacially reserved, humorless (when the new owner of Darlington Hall takes over, Stevens finds himself having to practice banter in order to please his American employer), and snobbish. Out of an unquestioning respect for his betters and a misplaced need to repress all emotion, Stevens has managed to rid himself of all sense of identity, creating a blank facade that fools even himself. He is, indeed, as Galen Strawson calls him, an innocent masterpiece of self-repression (535). Stevenss lack of identity is further emphasized by the fact that he is known only as Stevens; with no apparent first name, he becomes unselfed, possessing no self outside of his manservant role. Critics have made much of the butlers namelessness, citing it as evidence of his suppression and lack of humanity. David Gurewich, for example, points out that for Stevens to have a first name would be improper, and at odds with tradition (77). He is essentially, many contend, worthy of only the surname, lacking the personal identity, as well as any affable qualities, that a given namethe Christian name, the familiar namemight lend. However, a close reading of the novel discovers that Stevens, indeed, has a first namea name of which he is obviously proud and one that is especially appropriate to his character. Early in the novel Stevenss father joins Darlington House; in his seventies, he is too feeble and old to head a household, but he is nonetheless determined to serve someone in some capacity. At one point Stevens becomes miffed when Miss Kenton, the head housekeeper, refers to his father by his first name, William; Stevens demands that she call his father Mr. Stevens. Not allowing his father to be referred to in a personal manner is the same propriety that prevents Stevens from addressing Miss Kenton by her first name and, later, by her married name. It is in large part a result of Stevenss own inability to become personable, personal, emotional. Later, obeying his dictum, Miss Kenton comments, I am sure Mr. Stevens senior is very good at his job (55,italics added), revealing through implication that Stevens is a junior, that his first name is, in fact, William. Stevens is every bit his fathers son and appropriately his fathers namesake. The shared name emphasizes that Stevens is the analogy of his father in both service and dignity. Stevens has obvious and unmitigated respect for his father, whom Stevens views as the perfect butler: [I]t is my firm conviction, Stevens says at one point, that at the peak of his career my father was indeed the embodiment of dignity' (34), the essence of a true butler. Like his son, Stevenss father demonstrates in his day-to-day life an almost inhuman restraint of emotions, in keeping, they both believe, with the dignity inherent in service. Stevens relates the tale of his fathers having to serve the general whose incompetence was responsible for a sons death; Mr. Stevens Senior, denying personal feelings to a disturbing degree, attends to the general with utter professionalism and emotionlessness, an act Stevens later sees as the personification itself of dignity in keeping with his position' (42). Years later Stevens acts with remarkably similar dignity, performing service duties while his father lies dying in an upstairs bedroom. Stevens later considers this to be the epitome of his service, regarding it as a turning point in my life as the moment in my career when I truly came of age as a butler (70). As his father dies, Stevens continues his duties, serving drinks, maintaining proper order, retrieving bandages for the deplorable M. Dupont, all the while unaware that he is crying, his inner walls crumbling under the weight of humanity, his outer walls standing firm. The act establishes him as the quintessential butler and, more important, as proper heir to his fathers name; further, it is through this act of quelled emotion and staunch repression that Stevens indeed earns his fathers name. Stevenss mirroring of his father is further evident in the butlers most intimate relationships, both of which are virtually emotionless and completely passionless. The relationship with his father is the end result of a lifetime of extreme emotional repression. This is most poignantly illustrated as his father, on his deathbed, tells his son, I hope Ive been a good father to you (97), and Stevens can only reply over and over, Im so glad youre feeling better now (97); Stevens is helpless to think of a better, more loving response. He has re-created ithin himself his fathers emotional vacuum, ridding himself of all feelings and, simultaneously, his heart. The void he has so painstakingly constructed is there to haunt him when the possibility of love appears in the form of Miss Kenton. Unable to respond to her intimations (often overt) of a desired relationship, Stevens allows the one possible love of his life to escape. His extreme professionalism prevents him from responding emotional ly to Miss Kenton on any level, allowing her instead to slip away into marriage and forever away from him. Encountering Miss Kenton, now Mrs. Benn, years later and discovering the truth of this past opportunity of love (and, subsequently, the possibility of happiness and fulfillment), Stevens is finally overwhelmed by his pent-up emotions and confesses to his pain: Indeedwhy should I not admit it? at that moment, my heart was breaking (239). Stevens sacrifices all to service, to dignity, to becoming the perfect butler; his entire existence is founded on his butlers profession. And in the end, he finds himself alone, lonelybut unequivocally worthy of his fathers name.