Reviewing The Remains of the Day (September 2024)

Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, The Remains of the Day, published in 1989, is in many ways similar to his prior novel, An Artist of the Floating World, published three years earlier. Both engage the theme of collaboration with evil. In An Artist of the Floating World, the narrator is a Japanese artist reflecting on his professional life, in particular his use of art, to advance the cause of Japanese imperialism during the 1930s, while in The Remains of the Day, the narrator, a very correct English butler recollects his service to Lord Darlington who turns out to have been unwittingly used by the German foreign minister, von Ribbentrop, to obtain a favourable view of Hitler’s Germany from the British aristocracy. Both are first person narratives, essentially internal monologues with re-created conversations that give a richer context to the memories of the narrator/protagonist and a sense that the narrative is complete and accurate. However, the element of the unreliable narrator presents a fundamental problem for the reader in both novels. How much veracity should the reader place in the narrative given that the narrator freely acknowledges some memory mistakes and yet manages to reproduce lengthy verbatim dialogues? And is the narrator concealing or misrepresenting the past for the sake of getting a ‘fairer’ hearing? The narrator is, after all, reaching back to the past, and one must acknowledge that one's objectivity is naturally influenced by the passage of time, diminution of faculties and the inherent subjectivity of remembering.

An important difference lies in the fact that in An Artist of the Floating World, the narrator/artist, Masuji Ono, is making the case for himself, while in The Remains of the Day, Mr. Stevens, the butler, is trying to protect his former employer from what he deems libelous and unfair criticism. In addition, Mr. Stevens explains, as if to justify, his own misguided rigid commitment to his ideal of the imperturbable and impeccably efficient butler at the expense of interpersonal relationships other than those concerning the performance of his duties. It is this dual collaboration on the part of Lord Darlington with the Nazis and Mr. Stevens with his employer that shadow one another. Neither Lord Darlington nor Mr. Stevens comes off as a particularly agreeable character, though at the conclusion of the novel, Mr. Stevens does appear to have achieved some redemption and a second chance in the remains of day (of his life). Nothing is, however, spoken of Lord Darlington's reaction to having been characterized as a Nazi sympathizer.

Through flashbacks to and reminiscences of his 35 years of service to Lord Darlington at Darlington Hall, Mr. Stevens also slowly unravels the story of his employer's having been deceived by the Germans in the late interwar years. A significant part of the narrative involves what amount to 'transcripts' of conversations. Just as Mr. Stevens motors along to the Dorset coast avoiding the main highways in order to explore the back roads with their hidden views and bypassed villages, his narrative wends its way across three decades and among multiple characters. As in his road trip, he often appears to have gone off track and got lost, but he always finds his way back to where he left the main road and continues on towards his destination. The novel is so well-written and such a pleasure to read that the reader is not inconvenienced by the detours and digressions.

As mentioned earlier, it is highly implausible that Mr. Stevens could have perfectly precise recollections of past conversations with multiple characters at Darlington Hall. And the assumed accuracy of these memories is in stark contrast to those occasions where he freely admits chronological errors of memory. This latter occurs most notably when the housekeeper, Miss Kenton, was overheard by Mr. Stevens to be crying in her room—once after the unexpected death of her aunt, with whom she had a close relationship, and once after informing Mr. Stevens that she would be getting married and leaving Darlington Hall. On both occasions, Mr. Stevens did not show any emotional feeling, but he later maintains, privately, that he did suffer for not having done so. Only at the very end does he outwardly display signs of empathy for Miss Kenton. Nevertheless, he is, throughout his journey, caught up in deep introspection, not least owing to the revelations that his employer's peace endeavours had been terribly misguided.

Lord Darlington had been convinced that the Versailles Treaty ending World War I was too harsh and resulted in excessive and unnecessary suffering in Germany and worked through unofficial channels to moderate the terms of Germany’s reparations payments. This entailed viewing Hitler and the Nazis in a more favourable light. In a significant encounter the day after a confidential meeting with three British guests in the drawing room of Darlington Hall, Lord Darlington apologized to Mr. Stevens for the embarrassing position his guests had put the butler in the evening before with their technical questions about the Treaty. What Lord Darlington did not regret, however, was the purpose of the demonstration, which was to illustrate why the common man could not contribute anything positive to foreign policy, illustrating the foolishness of universal suffrage and endless parliamentary debate.

Look at Germany and Italy, Stevens. See what strong leadership can do if it's allowed to act. None of this universal suffrage nonsense there. If your house is on fire, you don't call the household into the drawing room and debate the various options for escape for an hour, do you? It may have been all very well once, but the world's a complicated place now. The man in the street can't be expected to know enough about politics, economics, world commerce and what have you. And why should he? In fact, you made a very good reply last night, Stevens. How did you put it? Something to the effect that it was not in your realm? Well, why should it be?

For his part, Mr. Stevens in calling up that particular conversation notes that there is considerable dissonance between the ideas his employer expressed and those current among Britons, yet he continues to hold fast to the belief that

[A] butler's duty is to provide good service. It is not to meddle in the great affairs of the nation. The fact is, such great affairs will always be beyond the understanding of those such as you and I, and those of us who wish to make our mark must realize that we best do so by concentrating on what is within our realm.

As it turns out, Lord Darlington proved to have been the amateur as Mr. Lewis, the American senator, had baldly asserted at an earlier unofficial international conference at Darlington Hall.

In a later exchange between Mr. Stevens and the young Mr. Cardinal, son of a now-deceased good friend of Lord Darlington on the occasion of a secret meeting between the British prime minister and foreign minister and von Ribbentrop at Darlington Hall, Mr. Cardinal challenged the butler to consider Germany's treacherous deception of Lord Darlington. Mr. Cardinal had happened to drop by the Hall that evening, though he had in fact been tipped off that von Ribbentrop and the Prime Minister would be meeting—unofficially. He laid it out clearly to Stevens how his godfather, Lord Darlington, had been duped by the Germans.

You don't understand, Stevens. Well, we're friends and so I'll put it to you frankly. Over the last few years, his lordship has probably been the single most useful pawn Herr Hitler has had in this country for his propaganda tricks. All the better because he's sincere and honourable and doesn't recognize the true nature of what he's doing. During the last three years alone, his lordship has been crucially instrumental in establishing links between Berlin and over sixty of the most influential citizens of this country. It's worked beautifully for them. Herr Ribbentrop's been able virtually to bypass our foreign office altogether.

In response, Mr. Stevens declared that he had full faith in Lord Darlington’s good judgment and best intentions “to ensure that peace will continue to prevail in Europe.” He could not be persuaded that something traitorous was being plotted at Darlington Hall and excused himself to attend to the guests.

Only at the end does Mr. Stevens express some uncertainty about whether he himself had been complicit. In a brief conversation with a man who joins him at the bus stop in Little Compton after Miss Kenton has departed he confides,

Lord Darlington wasn't a bad man. He wasn't a bad man at all. And at least he had the privilege of being able to say at the end of his life that he made his own mistakes. His lordship was a courageous man. He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at least. As for myself, I cannot even claim that. You see, I trusted. I trusted in his lordship's wisdom. All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile. I can't even say I made my own mistakes. Really—one has to ask oneself—what dignity is there in that?

In the penultimate paragraph of the novel, Mr. Stevens experiences a moment of insight, which will guide him through the remains of his days.

A few minutes ago, incidentally, shortly after the lights came on, I did turn on my bench a moment to study more closely these throngs of people laughing and chatting behind me. There are people of all ages strolling around this pier: families with children; couples, young and elderly, walking arm in arm. There is a group of six or seven people gathered just a little way behind me who have aroused my curiosity a little. I naturally assumed at first that they were a group of friends out together for the evening. But as I listened to their exchanges, it became apparent they were strangers who had just happened upon one another here on this spot behind me. Evidently, they had all paused a moment for the lights coming on, and then proceeded to fall into conversation with one another. As I watch them now, they are laughing together merrily. It is curious how people can build such warmth among themselves so swiftly. It is possible these particular persons are simply united by the anticipation of the evening ahead. But, then, I rather fancy it has more to do with this skill of bantering. Listening to them now, I can hear them exchanging one bantering remark after another. It is, I would suppose, the way many people like to proceed. In fact, it is possible my bench companion of a while ago expected me to banter with him—in which case, I suppose I was something of a sorry disappointment. Perhaps it is indeed time I began to look at this whole matter of bantering more enthusiastically. After all, when one thinks about it, it is not such a foolish thing to indulge in—particularly if it is the case that in bantering lies the key to human warmth.

In exchange for the cold always composed dignity of his office, he chooses sensibility and human companionship. He recalls his words to Miss Kenton as they wait for her bus sheltered from the sudden rainstorm—words which exposes a side of himself he rarely, if ever, shared with others. In a frank and stunning admission, Mr. Stevens reflects that he had felt as if “[his] heart was breaking” when Miss Kenton shared her innermost regrets about leaving Darlington Hall and marrying Mr. Benn.

You're very correct, Mrs Benn. As you say, it is too late to turn back the clock. Indeed, I would not be able to rest if I thought such ideas were the cause of unhappiness for you and your husband. We must each of us, as you point out, be grateful for what we do have. And from what you tell me, Mrs Benn, you have reason to be contented. In fact I would venture, what with Mr Benn retiring, and with grandchildren on the way, that you and Mr Benn have some extremely happy years before you. You really mustn't let any more foolish ideas come between yourself and the happiness you deserve.

These were the words of a man who had only just recently told a happenstance inquirer that dignity “comes down to not removing one's clothing in public.”