The Remains of the Day: Rapid Reaction

I remember back in 1993, when the trailer for the film version of The Remains of the Day came out, I instinctively found the title to be overdramatic (even though I didn’t understand what it meant), and my 10-year-old self made fun of it, saying the title aloud in a poorly done faux-British accent, pronounced with as much sappiness as I could muster. I could not have had less interest in actually viewing the movie.

Nearly thirty years later, I finally sat down and read the book, and needless to say, my 10-year-old self had a lot to learn. Kazuo Ishiguro’s 1989 novel is a masterpiece.

Stevens the butler, the protagonist and narrator of the story, is perhaps the most uptight character I’ve encountered in literature. His life is dominated by adherence to propriety and absolute control of his surroundings. There is no room whatsoever in his life for disorder or frivolity. Efficiency is king, and even small talk, when it is occasionally indulged in, must be couched in discussions that are “professional in nature.”

This obsession with order is done in service of Stevens’ master, Lord Darlington, an English nobleman who is eventually revealed to be a Nazi sympathizer. Stevens’ himself is not a sympathizer, but he also steadfastly avoids confronting the truth of his influential master’s beliefs (and the actions he takes based on those beliefs). To say Stevens’ is complicit in his master’s sins would be too strong, as Stevens’ possesses no real power to alter the course of things, but his refusal to acknowledge what is occurring in the house he serves reflects a larger inability to be honest with himself about anything he feels.

This self-delusion can be seen most clearly in Stevens’ affections for the housekeeper Miss Kenton. Miss Kenton, unlike Stevens, is not afraid to show a little passion, nor is she unwilling to speak her mind when something upsets her. Essentially, she is simply far more willing to reveal that she is human, something Stevens’ struggles mightily to do. While their relationship begins icily, the two grow fond of each other over the years, and it eventually becomes clear that Miss Kenton wants something beyond a professional friendship. For his part, Stevens’ wants one too. In fact, he wants it desperately. But he cannot admit this to her because he cannot admit it to himself. Instead, he considers his duty to Lord Darlington to be paramount, and will not allow personal feelings to interfere with his responsibilities. 

It is on a drive across the English countryside, some 20 years after Miss Kenton left Darlington Hall to marry another man, that Stevens finally reckons with the grave mistakes he has made. He finally sees that his obsession with things like duty, loyalty, and dignity closed off any chance of a happy life, one he could have spent with Miss Kenton, the only person who seemed to care for him.

The Remains of the Day is a sad book. The story it tells, of a man who essentially wastes his life in the service of misplaced priorities, will not leave readers in a joyful place. But it is a remarkable character study, and a warning to anyone inclined to sacrifice their own personal happiness for the sake of obligation or allegiance.