Literature Analysis #1 - The Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

GENERAL
 1. To summarize the book it is that it's about a man, who is known simply as Stevens. Stevens is a butler for another man named Mr. Farraday. However, he receives a letter from a Miss Kenton and decides to take a five day trip to go see her. (She worked in the same manor as Stevens 20 years prior.) The present isn't exactly what Stevens focuses on though, he looks back at his life to see if he believes he truly lived up to the 'dignity' he thinks he needs to live a fulfilling life and also the life he may have had with Miss Kenton if he had done things differently. When he finally arrived and met with her, he realized nothing with her was going to change. They both expressed the feelings they once had, which was a huge step for Stevens, but both knew they could not dwell on the past. So Stevens begins to revise his definition of the word dignity and chooses to move forward in his life.

2. The main theme that I see throughout this novel is regret. It's expressed mainly with the life that Stevens could have had with Miss Kenton. On the journey to visit her, he looked back on his life to several different occasions where he believed that if he had done something differently, if he had shown his true feelings then they could have been together and lived a happy life. Stevens then also shows regret when he looks back at how faithful he was to his previous master, Mr. Darlington. Stevens believed he was a good man and in his mind was willing to do anything for his master in hopes of gaining dignity. However Mr. Darlington was a man who dealt with Nazis during WWII. Stevens knows he could have done something, but at the time was to caught up in his vision of perfection that he couldn't swerve away from it.

3. The author's tone was extremely formal. The narrator spoke in a way that would match the setting of this time. This is why it is easily understandable for the character to be so strict, in a sense. He was very focused and set on the path he was in. Also being a butler he wanted to show the people he waited on that he was a gentleman and worthy to be their server.

4. - analysis: explored when looking back on his life
-dialect: the author wrote in the way Stevens would think is best
-dogmatic: Stevens had a set definition for the word dignity and did what he did to gain it
-flashback: different situations Stevens thought about
-foil: Mr. Darlington next to Mr. Farraday
-imagery: author used great details to explain each situation
-interior monologue: all of Stevens memories
-motif: Stevens often spoke of learning how to banter
-pathos: audience feels when it's learned that Stevens cries about his life
-poignant: how Miss Kenton feels when learning of her aunt's death

CHARACTERIZATION
1. The author didn't use direct characterization all that much because the main character was not a very open person so it seems fit that the audience isn't given much to go on. There are brief descriptions of the people here and there, but that's about it.
The author uses indirect characterization when he continually has Stevens walking away from Miss Kenton's door when she's inside crying. Normally people would wait outside or even burst inside to see what was wrong. Stevens was not like them though. He was straight on his path towards gaining dignity. Also we see indirect characterization when Stevens is given a handkerchief at the end of the book. He doesn't outright say that he is crying, but through this simple token we can tell he is sad by that days turn of events.

2. I believe the syntax and diction remains the same throughout the book because it solely about the character, Stevens. It's his life and his thoughts we are exploring. Stevens was proper and a gentleman so the author wrote the book in the way that would match this character.

3. The protagonist is basically static and flat throughout the entire story up until the very end. He lets go of the perfect version he envisions himself to be and is simply a man. He expresses his feelings and shows his emotions. He grows in this stage of his life and changes so as to become the man his sees with his new definition of the word dignity.

4. I believe I read a character mainly because I have never met anybody like this. I have never seen a man so focused on one path that he shuts out anything that might get in the way of that. Also butlers aren't really needed in America so I don't quite understand their lifestyle.