Remains of the Day as a Postmodern Novel

This paper deals with ways history can be interpreted and influences different interpretations have on society and individuals. This is explored through

    Postmodernism is a form of literature which is marked both stylistically and ideologically, by a reliance on such literary conventions as unreliable narrators , parody, unrealistic plots, dark humor and authorial self-reference.  A Girl’s Story written by David Arnason is a perfect example of postmodernism because David tends to ignore the traditional limitation of structure. He uses the power of his mind to develop his story (A Girl’s Story). David uses the cultures and classes to create a limitation free story that anyone can enjoy and understand.

First of all, history is influential because it teaches people in groups, individuals, or as nations how humans perceive a complicated situation. Furthermore, how humans solve these complications is something we are also taught. In this

The fallout after the World War 1 and the Great Depression saw the emergence of a literary preoccupation with the idea of fragmentation, and a 'cubist application ' to literature as a means of representing the 20th Century 'modern ' reality. Authors, poets, artists etc saw; cubism, expressionism and fragmentation as the best vehicles to depict the incomplete, broken lives of their subjects. With both modern and post modern literature making a conscious break away from previous realism, 20thC literature employed and explored subjectivism, whereby the author turned from the typical external reality to the inner consciousness of a character or subject, to reflect a motif/ theme as a whole. Modernist literature did so by exploring fragmentation in terms of narrative, how a character was constructed, the formation of passages and chapters, and how events unfolded. This typically surmounted to the creation of a sense of a chaotic universe, metaphysically unfounded, laced with the subconscious fears of characters and notions of alienation.

The term postmodernism has been defined in different ways over the past years but it still hasn’t had its official definition. Postmodernism is a daunting subject because of the disagreements between people of how they interrupt texts and art. Postmodernism is a critic of what we assume to be real or a fantasy of what we want to be real. Postmodernism raises an importance of identity. Postmodernism is a style and concept of the arts, architecture and the criticism that shows a break from modernism. Postmodernism highlights ideas and theories. It can include different artistic styles in art. For example, an artist can mix pop art with an icon image such as Marilyn Monroe, or make recycled garbage into new art. Watchmen

There are many perspectives and definitions on art, an abstract topic. In the world of books, nothing is considered art unless the novel can engage the readers through the author's use of emotions and stylistic syntax. Using Groen's essay “Books Still Win” tragic realism is seen in Joshua Ferris' novel “Then We Came to the End.” Tragic realism is evident in Ferris' novel through the fact there is both good and bad within a person, that life improves with struggles and that sadness is always evident.

One of the biggest examples of postmodernism literature in the short story “Interpreter of Maladies” is the romantic fantasy Mr. Kapasi spurs in his own mind. Mrs. Das tells Mr. Kapasi that his job is “so romantic,” and she begins to indulge herself in information about his occupational obligations. Mr. Kapasi starts to fantasize and wonder why Mrs. Das is “so intrigued by his job.” Thus, Mr. Kapasi begins to develope feelings for Mrs. Das,and justifies his indulgence as he wonders if “Mr. and Mrs.

The art, literature, and poetry of the early 20th century called for a disruption of social values. Modernism became the vague term to describe the shift. The characteristics of the term Modernism, all seek to free the restricted human spirit. It had no trust in the moral conventions and codes of the past. One of the examples of modernism, that breaks the conventions and traditions of literature prior to Modernism, is Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants”. The short story uses plot, symbolism, setting, dialogue, and a new style of writing to allow human spirit to experiment with meaning and interpretation.

The social norms and traditions of the past shattered leaving unorganized behavior resulted from the distrust of the world’s norms. The article “Postmodernism’s Critique of Modernism” regards this unorganized behavior as a “loss of unity” with the quote, “While modernism regards fragmentation as tragic, laments loss of unity and hope to regain the loss of unity through arts…” (Postmodernism's).This lack of unity and fragmentation coupled with the enormous crowds of big cities leave the individual feeling smaller and more isolated. A quality which creates the sense of individualism and stream of conscious writing that is associated with modern

In “An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory” Bennett and Royle, explore topics such as subjectivity and ideology. In the Chapters “Me” and Ideology”, Bennett and Royle are able to define the terms as well as suggest how they are interrelated or interconnected. Bennett and Royle contend that literature replicates structures of ideology while encouraging subjects to question personal idenitity. They believe “subjects – people – make their own ideology at the same time as ideology makes them subjects” (Bennett and Royle 202). Stevens exemplifies Bennett and Royles contentions by building his ideologies around his profession as a bulter at the risk of losing himself to the subjection of his ideologies in which he can never be alone and cannot exist without his profession or the justications of his profession.

Literature: the enlightenment, romanticism, realism, modernism, and postmodernism…. Where does one begin? To some, those words can be as scary as the word computer is to others. This essay is designed to help you become a great literary interpreter. Getting the motivation is three fourths of the battle to getting into the heads of the artists. To begin, an outline of some of the literary movements has been provided.

Kazuo Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day is about the struggles one man, Mr. Stevens, has with relationships with his father, Miss Kenton and his employer, but the struggle he focuses on the most is to be a “great butler.” He pushes himself physically to work as hard as he can, as well as mentally to determine what makes a butler great. Stevens sacrifices all normal human encounters with those around him in order to be an emotionless person. “When one encounters them, one simply knows one is in the presence of greatness” (44). Stevens, through many trials, proves himself to be a “great butler.”

In The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro places Mr. Stevens’ stay at the Taylors’ house directly after Lord Darlington’s abrupt dismissal of two Jewish staff members, and he uses different tones and the repetition of key phrases in the two incidents to contrast the generosity, respect, and hospitality of the lower class with the racism, cruelty, and emotional detachment of the upper class nobles. Ishiguro especially contrasts the way the two classes treat each other with the courtesy of the lower class and the apathy of the upper class. Ishiguro uses a generally cold and distant tone while Lord Darlington is speaking to Stevens about firing the Jewish housemaids; however, he uses a warm and friendly tone when the Taylors and the rest of

Modernism, in literature, can be seen as a shift in focus to the unassociated introspective reflection of characters in such texts as Go Tell It On The Mountain, by James Baldwin, Miss Lonelyhearts, by Nathanael West and The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. This is a revision from the previous focal point of exterior events and places in correlation with the character’s reflections. Emphasis is placed on review upon feelings and thoughts, and even conversations with oneself, as opposed to the more directly event-driven reflections in texts of the pre-modernist era.

The paper will analyze the literary skills in the novel. The literary styles will be analyzed in the context of their significance in influencing the plot and characters. The literary analysis will include review of the major literature styles the author uses and the characteristics of characters in regards to adapting the requirements of the specific literature styles. Additionally, the review will also include a perspective of the importance of style used by the author.