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Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day" Essay

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The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro is a fictional novel about regrets and lost chances. This book is Ishiguro’s third published novel and has received the Man Booker Prize for fiction in 1989. The Remains of the Day uses several literary techniques such as tone, flashbacks, symbolism, and foreshadowing to emphasize the core themes of dignity, regret, and loyalty. The plot mainly revolves around human weaknesses and misjudgments.
The Remains of the Day is a first person narrative of an English butler named Stevens on 6-day trip to the English countryside. Stevens could be considered as the “perfect” butler due to his serious personality, exemplary work ethic, and strong sense of loyalty. Stevens has been working as a butler at …show more content…

The author uses tone to emphasize Steven’s changing feelings regarding Lord Darlington as he looks back on his actions. Stevens tone is that of nostalgia and regret over things that he did and failed to do in the past. For example, in the fifth chapter of the novel entitled “Day Three—Evening/Moscombe, Near Tavistock, Devon,” Stevens recollects about an event where Lord Darlington requested him to fire two maids because of their religion. Stevens loyally followed Lord Darlington’s command and fired the maids, which in effect, angered Miss Kenton and worsened their relationship. It is later revealed that Stevens himself was hesitant towards firing the two maids and believed that if he had behaved differently it would have resulted in a more favorable outcome. The author also uses symbolism and foreshadowing to reflect Steven’s values and to show the many changes that occur during Steven’s life. One symbol used in the novel is the English landscape. While Stevens is traveling, he notices the beauty of the landscape and comments on what makes the landscape beautiful as shown in the following excerpt:
And yet what precisely is this 'greatness'? Just where, or in what, does it lie? I am quite aware it would take a far wiser head than mine to answer such a question, but if I were forced to hazard a guess, I would say that it is the very lack of obvious drama or spectacle that sets the beauty of our land apart. What is pertinent is the calmness of that beauty,

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