The Remains of the Day Essay

Protagonists of novels should be relatable and realistic. They should be individuals with whom readers can easily identify, and consequently should be painted with as much humanity as possible. Mr. Stevens, the protagonist of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel The Remains of the Day, is no exception. He is meant to be an incredibly human character, and consequently it makes sense that the reader should seek to define his flaws and limits, and whether or not he exhibits “spiritual imprisonment”, as Robert Stone terms it

The Remains of the Day and White is for Witching, like many other books, has an underlying tone of racial, social, and political issues. Not only that they are both similar in some ways when it comes to addressing race and social structure in our society. Helen Oyeyemi who is the writer of White is for Witching. Which is a novel were she put her own personal experiences such as her eating disorder and how they are preserved, how her immigrant family was treated, and the idea that the lighter your

At the center of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day is a lack of loyalty to oneself in the protagonist, Mr. Stevens, an aging butler at Darlington Hall, who is blindly loyal to his employers, Lord Darlington and Mr. Farraday. Stevens’ absentminded loyalty to Lord Darlington in particular has significant ramifications, most notably affecting his relationship with Miss Kenton, the head housekeeper at Darlington Hall for many years. Rob Atkinson’s assertion that Stevens’ position in Darlington

Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day takes place in England during the World War 2 era. The story revolves around a butler, Stevens who spend a considerable part of his life acting as the head butler for Lord Darlington. Steven believes that the best butlers should be able to wholly serve their masters, irrespective of the request or the butler’s limitations. In chapter 2 Steven says that “…A great butler wears his professionalism as a decent gentleman wears his suit; he will take it off when

The theme of dignity is often used in literature. There are many ways characters can obtain dignity. In Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day, the author employs the use of characterization, tone, and conflict to depict the theme of dignity that is perceived throughout the novel. First of all, Ishiguro utilizes the use of characterization to display the theme of dignity. The protagonist, Stevens, demonstrates he is a professional individual by “maintaining proper order” while he is living through

There is an assumed dignity in being a butler of an early twentieth century British household, but that dignity apparently disappears once the notion of Britain is removed. Stevens, a British butler and main character in Ishiguro’s novel The Remains of the Day, holds onto this ideal tightly. In an attempt to recapture the past, Stevens clings to a distorted sense of dignity that is bound by the social constructs of the time in which he longs to be in. His altered view of dignity works with his deep-rooted

The protagonist of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day is Stevens, an English butler before and after World War II. Throughout the text, he reflects on the various losses that he has suffered throughout his career. In the text, loss is depicted as death, a decline in status, or missed opportunities. Stevens experiences each of these forms of loss, yet does make any changes to his character. Through him, Ishiguro suggests that remaining consistent in their usual activities is how some people get

strikes them, something that turns their constructed worlds upside down, something that forces them to be honest with themselves; only when this something strikes them can they come to a point of true self-realization. The main character of The Remains of The Day, Mr. Stevens, is one of them men to whom this self realization comes. In some roundabout way, even during his time of blindness, Mr. Stevens is cognizant of this fact–even if he does not see its full implications. The theme of self-realization

Remains of the Day 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

The two novels “The Remains of the Day” and “Atonement” both illustrate the theme of loss and grief throughout their novel. In my own words the definition of loss is described as losing someone or something, and the definition of grief is described as how someone reacts to a loss. Whether it’s through anger, guilt, sadness, or restraint. In the novels each character expressed their emotions in diverse ways when dealing with loss and grief. In the novel The Remains of the Day Stevens loses his father