The Remains of the Day ~ Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)

In Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day, a unique story unfolds as from a peculiar perspective, the common tales of the operations of a grand aristocratic household are told by the butler, Mr Stevens.  In the novel, Stevens has devoted his entire life to the servitude of the upper classes and in his twilight years, he tragically realises that he has wasted his life and this is made more emotional as the reader begins to understand more of his history. Told through a series of memories, the narrative jumps through the chronology of Mr Stevens’ past and is used as a representation of the character’s psyche as he is entrenched in the memories of his past and his own perspective. For this limitation, Stevens has been identified as an unreliable narrator and while this may be frustrating as he often confuses his memories, the singular viewpoint enables a deeper understanding of the character as the travel log structure in itself is an individual activity, again reiterating his isolation and generating our sympathy. This serves an excellent example of another of Ishiguro’s innovation as the reader creates these feelings; Stevens rarely tells us how to feel but his story is framed in a series of suggestions and undertones which motivate our emotions. What Stevens lacks in his narration, the reader compensates, realising that the pride of his life as a butler is folly. The Remains of the Day generates real emotion and ranges from frustration with the character’s pompous demeanour from the beginning to pity by its conclusion and through this we become attached to Mr Stevens and with another key character, Miss Kenton. Importantly, while Miss Kenton is a character which appears frequently, this is only through memories; she is never directly present which creates anticipation as the journal format counts down to her arrival, another structural technique which draws us into the novel. In terms of criticism, it is important to acknowledge that this captivation with the story is not initially present. The reader is not aware of Stevens’ life, we see him as lacking dimension and therefore boring which makes the early part of the novel less enjoyable. In further re-readings we can appreciate this character development but in the initial, and crucial first reading, it often lacks the persuasion to follow the story of this aged butler. Stevens develops as a character as the story progresses and by the end, we have integrated into his psyche, making him one of the most believable literary characters and through the emotional impact the novel creates it is a success as long as we perceiver with the story of the remains of Mr Stevens’ day.