The Remains of the Day, Ishiguro, Kazuo | 9780679731726 | Boeken | bol (2024)

FAQs

What is the main message of The Remains of the Day? ›

As Salman Rushdie comments, The Remains of the Day is "a story both beautiful and cruel." It is a story primarily about regret: throughout his life, Stevens puts his absolute trust and devotion in a man who makes drastic mistakes.

In the summer of 1956, Stevens, a long-serving butler at Darlington Hall, decides to take a motoring trip through the West Country. The six-day excursion becomes a journey into the past of Stevens and England, a past that takes in fascism, two world wars, and an unrealised love between the butler and his housekeeper.

The Remains of the Day observes social hierarchies and the times at which these may be exploited. Writing in the Guardian, Peter Beech said 'It's about how class conditioning can turn you into your own worst enemy, making you complicit in your own subservience.

As well, "remains" is another word for a dead body, which connects with the death of Stevens's employer Lord Darlington. The "day" in the title represents life in general. The entire title's meaning is meant to convey how Stevens must live the rest of his life without wasting time dreaming of the past.

Analysis. The final section of The Remains of the Day is incredibly sad, as Stevens never tells Miss Kenton that he loves her because he feels that it is too late. Listening to her talk about her husband and her daughter has made him realize how much time has passed, and how much opportunity lost.

His tragedy is that his pursuit of greatness as a butler subsumes everything: his emotions, his critical faculties and his judgement. Stevens' restraint also wrecks his chance of finding happiness and love with Miss Kenton. He cannot admit his feelings for her and thus his, in part, is a tragedy of love.

Brief Summary

The poem is about a soldier who is haunted by his involvement in a shooting of a bank looter. It also explores the repercussions of war for individuals who come out of conflict zones and raises awareness of conditions such as ​PTSD​.

"The birds and the bees" (part of a very funny but somewhat unlikely scene in the novel) may drive his interest in Miss Kenton, but, at base, he can't effectively give women the time of day. His mother was a cipher in his life and, sadly, he makes Miss Kenton the same, despite our knowing he really loves her.

Nevertheless, The Remains of the Day is a quick and easy read—perhaps a little dry at times, but it's definitely a book that everyone should give a try.

The Remains of the Day (1989) is not based on a true story despite including real-world events. The novel is, therefore, historical fiction.

Is Mr. Stevens autistic? ›

He's not just a 'butler' — he is an asexual, Autistic butler (by my reading). Ideally, if he'd been born 100 years later, he'd be afforded his full humanity. He'd have words to describe who he is.

The Remains of the Day is structured along Stephen's journey to meet Miss Kenton. The journey functions as a metaphor for Stevens's introspection. The journey is a symbolic reminder of his discomfort with the modern world and represents the retrospective interrogation of his past.

But in a 2014 article written for The Guardian, Ishiguro revealed the story behind The Remains of the Day — including the fun fact that the Tom Waits song "Ruby's Arms" served as inspiration for the novel.

The tone of the novel is often wistful or nostalgic for the past; as the story goes on, the tone deepens into one of regret as Stevens reevaluates his past actions and decisions, and finds them unwise. Miss Kenton also openly says at the end of the novel that she often regrets the choices she has made in her own life.

What is The Remains of the Day about? The Remains of the Day (1989) features one of contemporary literature's most unforgettable narrators, Stevens, a butler who reminisces on his life in service at one of England's stately homes in the years leading up to World War II.

The Remains of the Day is the best Kazuo Ishiguro novel (that I've read). It's a slow but beautiful character study that sheds light on the nature of memory, our own biases and why sometimes it can be difficult to just admit you're wrong.

The Remains of the Day is a book about a thwarted life. It's about how class conditioning can turn you into your own worst enemy, making you complicit in your own subservience.

Stevens told Miss Kenton that “speaking down” to his father was inappropriate. Miss Kenton points out that her position is higher than that of Stevens Senior. Stevens suggested that Miss Kenton should do a better job of observing Stevens Senior. He also pointed out that she had much to learn.

His extra-narrative role crumbles at the end of the story when he realizes that the façade he has cultivated is a false one. Ishiguro subtly increases the amount of doubt that Stevens expresses about his past actions, so that by the end of the story, a fuller picture of Stevens's regret and sadness has emerged.

A movie governed by twin regrets, The Remains of the Day stars Anthony Hopkins as an aging butler at a faded British estate who quietly bemoans two things from decades earlier: his failure to open his heart to a former housekeeper (Emma Thompson) and his willful ignorance toward his onetime employer's Nazi sympathies.

What is the main theme of remains? ›

Guilt: the speaker in this poem is haunted by the guilt of taking another man's life. He is upset by the fact that the man might have been innocent. This phrase is repeated in the poem, emphasising the speaker's sense of discomfort at having killed another human being who may have been innocent.

“Remains” Themes

The poem examines the effects of guilt and trauma both during and after active duty, and suggests that the effects of wartime violence linger long after soldiers leave the battlefield. At first the speaker seems distanced from the violence being described, as if it were simply part of being a soldier.