Remains Of The Day

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as the only thing that matters in the world. Every time Stevens ends his lines with “sir,” he is repressing his true identity. Ishiguro makes the reader wonder how on earth a person could get to be like this, for the sole reward of having the best silver in the house or the best-starched suits.
The old service culture of butlers in England was destined to change dramatically after the two world wars; by the time Stevens decides to change his lifestyle the old ways are already gone forever.
Stevens even relates the subdued nature of English scenery to the proper way of dignified behavior, in his observation that the English countryside is more dignified than the showy American landscape, in its “lack of obvious drama or spectacle” (28).
Obviously, most regular people in England did not act like the butlers. The behavior of the old butlers represents stereotypes which persist today in our conception of the people of England. After
all, “butlers ...

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of personal service and devotion. Ishiguro may be attempting to make a point about all people’s attitudes toward their employers: do not spend your whole life trying to please one boss because you may find in the end that it was not worth it.
Ishiguro draws a comparison between the intense loyalty of a butler to his lord and the loyalty of the German people to Hitler. Though Stevens insists on referring to his father as “sir,” his loyalty to him leads to a break in his professional duty to his employer, since he supports his father’s attempts to hide the signs of his disability. Stevens’ inability to acknowledge the decline of his father’s abilities ...

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