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Graham Greene's The Human Factor and Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day

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The twentieth century is the century with the greatest loss of human life in the history of civilization. It was a time of mistrust and espionage. To be loyal is defined as “faithful to one's oath, commitments, or obligations” (OED). Some loyalties are bought, while others are earned. Earned loyalty tends to last while loyalty that is bought tends to fade. Two books, The Human Factor by Graham Greene and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro show this difference. While both characters demonstrate external loyalty, Stevens’ loyalty was purchased, and Castle’s was earned. Castle’s genuine loyalty allows him to risk his life, while Stevens’ loyalty is only compliance. Stevens, in The Remains of the Day, lives only to serve. …show more content…

He uses “fullfilled”, even though he is not really doing anything to accomplish the tasks. He sees this man as everything that matters. Even after doing all he can in service he still believes that will not be enough. He has to live through someone else. However, there is a deeper reason why he gives such allegiance: his loyalties must be deeper. Stevens’ true loyalty is to the idea of being a butler. He spends much of his life debating with himself about what makes a great butler. He has dedicated his life heavily to that idea. He does everything in his power to achieve being an ideal butler. These ideals are rooted so deep in his brain, there is no way around it. It is as if he has built a dam in his mind, and all emotions are kept out. Occasionally, some cracks in the wall let hints of emotion leak through, but they are always quickly plugged back up. This dam is so efficient, that he does not even realize it is there. He cannot understand that he has real emotions. There is no real him within his job, being a butler has become his identity. He believes, “It is important that one be attired at such times in a manner worthy of one’s position” (Ishiguro 11). For that is what he knows people to be: their positions. For Stevens to dress in a way that goes against his position is against his beliefs. He lives a life trying to constantly figure out, “What was required of of me on... occasions” (Ishiguro 15). He uses words like required, but never

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