602 Ishiguro, Kazuo
England in 1956. Stevens recounts various strands
of stories during the six days: unreliable memories
of his working and personal life entwined with his
present trip to visit Miss Kenton, a former head
housekeeper who left Darlington Hall 20 years
ago to get married. Lord Darlington, his previous
employer—Darlington Hall was sold to Mr. Far-
raday, an American, when Lord Darlington passed
away—held secret conferences to reconcile the dif-
ferences between the British and German heads of
state after the Great War. However, unknown to
Lord Darlington, the Nazis made use of his kind
and gentlemanly intentions to propagate their war
ambitions. In the first of the secret conferences, Ste-
vens remained at his butler duties even though his
father was dying; Stevens thought that this act could
be considered as dignified. As the narrative unfolds,
it is gradually revealed that Stevens loved Miss Ken-
ton. However, he did nothing to stop her marriage
because he was, again, working to prove his dignity.
The novel ends with Stevens resolving to make best
use of the remains of his days. Ironically, he has not
learn from his mistakes and returns to Darling-
ton Hall, determined to please Mr. Farraday. The
Remains of the Day, winner of 1989’s Booker Prize,
uses an unreliable narrator to talk of themes like dig-
nity, loss, and nationalism. It was adapted into a
film in 1993 that received eight Oscar nominations.
Aaron Ho
ambition in The Remains of the Day
Ambitions are often unfulfilled and thwarted in
The Remains of the Day: The characters are unsatis-
fied and disappointed and their lives empty. Lord
Darlington, a rich aristocrat, desires neither occu-
pational fame nor financial success. Although he
dabbles in politics, it is perhaps inaccurate to say that
he is ambitious politically since he has no interest
in holding a governmental office. Whatever politi-
cal meetings he arranges, he does so in his capacity
as an aristocrat. If he has an ambition, it is that he
aspires to be a gentleman. After the Great War and
despite fighting the Germans, he remains a great
friend to Herr Bremann because Lord Darlington
believes that they are both serving their respective
countries—something a gentleman would never
fail to do. Being forgiving and sympathetic, virtues
a gentleman should possess, Lord Darlington ago-
nizes over the way Germans were mistreated in the
Treaty of Versailles. When Herr Bremann can no
longer endure the hardships and commits suicide,
Lord Darlington bring about a series of meetings
in attempts to end the suffering of the Germans—
against his godson Mr. Cardinal’s advice. Unknown
to Lord Darlington, he has been manipulated by the
Nazis; he is Hitler’s most valuable pawn in England.
In the end, Lord Darlington’s friends shun him and
he dies a lonely death.
Like Lord Darlington, William Stevens, the
father of Mr. Stevens who was the head butler of
Darlington Hall, came to a tragic end because of
his ambition. Although it is not immediately clear
(because the narration is mediated through Stevens),
William, by neglecting his family and investing his
energy in his career, proved that he was ambitious.
William’s ambition was so ingrained into his way of
thinking that even when he was 72, he still put his
work before his family. For example, when Stevens
inquired about William’s health, William avoided
Stevens’s inquiries and diverted the subject to work.
Because of his ambition, William was estranged
from his son. On his deathbed, William said to Ste-
vens twice: “I hope I’ve been a good father to you.”
Stevens’s silence on the topic implies that he has not
been a good father. Inculcated with William’s work
ethics, Stevens was on duty and did not stay by his
father’s deathbed. William’s ending is as tragic as
Lord Darlington: Both die alone.
Stevens, like his father, aspires to be at the top
of his profession. For Stevens to achieve his dream
of becoming an excellent butler, he has to have “dig-
nity,” a term Stevens discusses throughout the novel.
Stevens’s idea of “dignity” is that a butler should
always put his work before his personal life and
never lose control over his emotions. He believes
he has achieved the acme of the butler profession,
especially in two instances, his father’s death and
Miss Kenton’s acceptance of Mr. Benn’s marriage
proposal. On both occasions, because he had to see
to the smooth running of important conferences, he
ignored his inner life and sacrificed his happiness
for his ambition to be a dignified butler. He did not
accompany his father as William was dying. He did
not stop Miss Kenton from accepting Mr. Benn’s