Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, The Remains of the Day, is a profound and beautifully written exploration into the interior life of an aging British butler named Stevens. The novel is set during a period of seismic shifts in global politics, as the realities of World War II are looming closer and closer. Against this backdrop, Stevens embarks on a journey of self-discovery is he travels the English countryside, reflecting on his adherence to the strict codes of loyalty and obedience of the British butler in relation to his employer, Lord Darlington.
The novel takes place over the course of three long days of travels, during which time Stevens encounters a variety of situations and people who challenge his preconceived notions and confront him with uncomfortable truths. Slowly, through a series of flashbacks, we learn that Stevens’ master, Lord Darlington, was a heavily invested in the cause of appeasing the Nazis and making England a more hospitable home for them. As a result, Stevens’ loyalty to the memory of his master, the man he devoted himself to for all of those years, is shaken to its core.
Throughout the novel, Ishiguro uses Stevens’ reflections as a motif, allowing us to compare and contrast different periods of his life along with the changing landscape of Britain. Stevens’ reflections on the “remains of the day” offer an insight into how he was searching for what is meaningful not only in his past, but in the world at large. While his recollections are often guilty and sad, Ishiguro gives the reader the opportunity to understand that the choices Stevens made in his life were choices that determined his future.
The novel’s poignant conclusion leaves us with an impression of a man who, at the close of his life, has begun to shift away from an unfaltering loyalty to tradition and is searching for a deeper and more meaningful existence. Stevens learns that he must look to the “remains of the day” to find the richness of life in the present. After Stevens reconciles with his past, he can look to the “remains of the day” to enjoy the peace of the present moment.
The Remains of the Day is a masterpiece of literary fiction. Ishiguro’s masterful writing transports us to a world that is both familiar and strange, and his rendering of Stevens’ struggle to find his place in a rapidly changing world is heartbreakingly beautiful. The novel is an emotionally charged exploration of a man’s search for redemption and meaning, and through it Ishiguro articulates a powerful and important lesson: life is fragile and fleeting, and to experience and appreciate it in its fullest we must look to the “remains of the day”.
