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The Remains of the Day could be regarded as a novel describes Stevens's changes in his journey and his life. Like us, habits are not easy to change, thus Stevens's changes not happened immediately, but step by step in a slow way, especially he is so stubborn. This novel is combined from Steven's journey in the present and his memory in the past. As a result, most changes we can discover from the novel are in his present journey, especially after the day four when he meets with Miss Kenton. The most significant change in this novel is his attitude. It can be divided into two aspects, one is his attitude about his career, and the other one is the attitude about his real emotion.
The key turning point of Stevens’s changes is the meeting with Miss Kenton in his journey in the day four. Before it, Stevens is a person has the talent to hide his real emotion in his daily life. Just like what he describes about his profession in the novel: They wear their professionalism as a decent gentleman will wear his suit: he will not let ruffians or circumstances tear it off him in the public gaze (The Remains of the Day 44). According to Stevens’s opinion, hiding the emotions is the symbol of being a great butler. Since he is good at this, a turning point in his career is he had the chance to serve the people from other countries in the international conference (73). This can be regarded as a reward for Stevens’s professionalism, and Stevens is also glad to receive it even consider he deserves it. Furthermore, before Stevens met with Miss Kenton, he keeps lots of the secrets of being a great butler in his mind, such as how to polish the silver, how to get into the club of the great butler, and so on. Because he thinks it cannot be spread into the normal people who may do not have the enthusiasm in this profession, this is the sacred profession in his mind: a “great” butler. However, after he met with Miss Kenton, and got the heart-breaking. He may get hurt much severely, hence he may be almost crackup. He told to a random stranger about all the secrets in this career, he believes he even revealed to a stranger several of his professional ‘secrets’ (254). In this section, we can find his change towards his career, although it may be the result under his crackup, he has begun to understand that his profession is not as sacred as before.
Hiding the emotions is an important characteristic of being a great butler, but Stevens makes this have the highest position in his life. Thus readers may think he is a cold-blood man. Specifically when readers read the passage of his father’s death, he is still insists on doing his profession and does not go upstairs to see the last eye of his father (109). What’s more, during the novel we can feel that Stevens likes Miss Kenton but when he heard that Miss Kenton said that someone pursues her, he is still in the peace mood and express his congratulation to Miss Kenton. In fact, he does not want Miss Kenton to get marry with other person (229). He is limited by his “professionalism.” Before the meeting, we still can find some clues that Stevens reveal his real emotions in the novel in the very obscure ways. Nevertheless, after the meeting between him and Miss Kenton in the day four, his emotions exploded. We will discover that in his diary of the day six, the words he uses is more affective than before he used. The most obvious example in the novel is when he heard what Miss Kenton confessed to him: “why should I not admit it? – at that moment, my heart was breaking” (252). This is the first time he faces to his real emotion without the restraint, and then uses such frank words to express what he feels.
Stevens’s attitude’s change in the final part of the novel also changes the atmosphere from oppressive to optimistic. The key turning point in his memory and his journey has the relevance with Miss Kenton. We can surmise that Miss Kenton is an important role in Stevens’s life.
The key turning point of Stevens’s changes is the meeting with Miss Kenton in his journey in the day four. Before it, Stevens is a person has the talent to hide his real emotion in his daily life. Just like what he describes about his profession in the novel: They wear their professionalism as a decent gentleman will wear his suit: he will not let ruffians or circumstances tear it off him in the public gaze (The Remains of the Day 44). According to Stevens’s opinion, hiding the emotions is the symbol of being a great butler. Since he is good at this, a turning point in his career is he had the chance to serve the people from other countries in the international conference (73). This can be regarded as a reward for Stevens’s professionalism, and Stevens is also glad to receive it even consider he deserves it. Furthermore, before Stevens met with Miss Kenton, he keeps lots of the secrets of being a great butler in his mind, such as how to polish the silver, how to get into the club of the great butler, and so on. Because he thinks it cannot be spread into the normal people who may do not have the enthusiasm in this profession, this is the sacred profession in his mind: a “great” butler. However, after he met with Miss Kenton, and got the heart-breaking. He may get hurt much severely, hence he may be almost crackup. He told to a random stranger about all the secrets in this career, he believes he even revealed to a stranger several of his professional ‘secrets’ (254). In this section, we can find his change towards his career, although it may be the result under his crackup, he has begun to understand that his profession is not as sacred as before.
Hiding the emotions is an important characteristic of being a great butler, but Stevens makes this have the highest position in his life. Thus readers may think he is a cold-blood man. Specifically when readers read the passage of his father’s death, he is still insists on doing his profession and does not go upstairs to see the last eye of his father (109). What’s more, during the novel we can feel that Stevens likes Miss Kenton but when he heard that Miss Kenton said that someone pursues her, he is still in the peace mood and express his congratulation to Miss Kenton. In fact, he does not want Miss Kenton to get marry with other person (229). He is limited by his “professionalism.” Before the meeting, we still can find some clues that Stevens reveal his real emotions in the novel in the very obscure ways. Nevertheless, after the meeting between him and Miss Kenton in the day four, his emotions exploded. We will discover that in his diary of the day six, the words he uses is more affective than before he used. The most obvious example in the novel is when he heard what Miss Kenton confessed to him: “why should I not admit it? – at that moment, my heart was breaking” (252). This is the first time he faces to his real emotion without the restraint, and then uses such frank words to express what he feels.
Stevens’s attitude’s change in the final part of the novel also changes the atmosphere from oppressive to optimistic. The key turning point in his memory and his journey has the relevance with Miss Kenton. We can surmise that Miss Kenton is an important role in Stevens’s life.
Work cited:
Kazuo Ishiguro. The Remains of the Day. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 2005.
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