Hallmarks of Identity in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel

The Remains of the Day

One of the recurrent concerns in the post-World War II era is that of identity alongside
with its variations: dislocation and(or) hybridization. There is one defining element that
moulds the individual’s identity: the past. Kazuo Ishiguro’s protagonists are pondering upon
their memories, they are struggling to answer some of their innermost questions, and they are
fighting deep remorse about their actions from the past. This is also the case of Mr. Stevens,
the protagonist of The Remains of the Day. His characters are, therefore, aware of being
delusional about their existence in the twilight of their life and their recollections usually take
the form of an attempt to set things in order, to find both clarification and justification for
their actions, in order to survive and understand the present and the time that has left.

The interaction past-present is affected by the mechanisms of memory and oblivion. This is as
much as to say that the past is being reinterpreted and conveyed in a subjective manner by the
protagonist. Understanding the mechanism of memory – the psychological and cultural-
historical implications -, and its relation to Mr. Stevens’ inextricable identity in Kazuo
Ishiguro’s novel The Remains of the Day represents the guiding mark of my analysis.
Furthermore, I will focus on how Mr. Stevens’ flashbacks to the 1920’ bring forth some
typical features of Englishness and national identity. The traditional setting of the novel, as
well as the characters, who ponder their past, trigger some other background questions:
questions regarding the aristocratic Lord Darlington who aligned himself with the Nazis, or
the pre-war British politics, and the father-son relationship which holds on resentments and
emotional disconnection.

The Remains of the Day portrays the melancholic story of an authentic aging butler, who
denies himself his most truthful feelings in favour of his loyalty for his employer, Lord
Darlington. A six-day road journey through rural England inevitably triggers memories from
an interwar past. The story runs slowly and abounds in descriptions and details, making each
story extremely visual, the conversations overflow with politeness, but all these contour a
complete image of Stevens and his relations with those in his entourage. His recollections and
confessions call into question the very essence of his actions. Stevens’ whole existence
gravitates around his profession. His blind loyalty for Lord Darlington, the strong affiliation

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to his duty and the feeling of dignity make him incapable of real emotions. The character of
Mr. Stevens lives his life with an almost ascetic self-denial: any trace of affection or human
emotion (apart from those related to his profession) is carefully neutralized and the friendship
and love of Miss Kenton have come to him belatedly. It is only then, in the last part of his life,
that he realizes than an existence placed exclusively under the sign of his profession is, in
fact, a failed existence and he himself is nothing but a reminiscence of a fictionalized past.
We are to discover this from the title itself, which hints somehow to this intimate conclusion.

The writing takes the form of journal entries, each of them becoming a self-conscious
examination in restraint, assumption, and projection. The unreliable narrators remain caught
within their enigmatic stories. Aside from the relatively small events and evocations, the
whole road journey represents a proper occasion to recall the past, the role and the dignity of a
butler, his tacit love and relation with Miss Kenton, or the great events that took place at
Darlington Hall during the inter-war period. It is important to mention that Mr. Stevens
identifies himself with his duty, in which “dignity has to do crucially with a butler’s ability
not to abandon the professional being he inhabits” (p. 42). This is what places him under the
frame of a quintessential English stereotype – “the genuine old-fashioned English butler” (p.
124). His absolute dedication to the profession of a butler in the “genuine grand old English
house” (p. 124) makes him even apathetic to the dramatic events that he witnesses silently in
the shadow, to his father’s death, to the loss of Miss Kenton. However, the intelligent
housekeeper, Miss Kenton, is the only one capable of guessing the sensibility that hides
behind the rigid mask of Mr. Stevens and tries, though uselessly, to awake warm feelings.

Memory functions as a biding agent that helps us, as readers, stereotypically categorize the
character of Stevens. This discussion on the English characteristics of a butler brings into light
a further discussion on Englishness and how is this acted out by Mr. Stevens.

First of all, there is a difference between Britishness and Englishness. According to Isabel
Taylor’s article on Englishness, “The Rural Myth”, the first hints toward “an Imperial and
industrial pride […] hollow and hubristic at best”, having political implications, whereas the
latter “quietly returns to the seat of all things loved and familiar: the English countryside”,
pointing out towards some intrinsic values. Stevens’ affiliation to Englishness lies in the way
he speaks and dresses, in his devotion to his duty, in his continuous attempt to keep the lid on
his emotions, but also in his various depictions of Darlington Hall and the places that he visits
and in his integrated comparisons between England and other nations. For instance, in his

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longing for ‘greatness’, he finds that “connectedness to the land” 1, which lies in the English
consciousness:

[...]the English landscape at its finest—such as I saw this morning—possesses a

quality that the landscapes of other nations, however more superficially dramatic,
inevitably fail to possess. It is, I believe, a quality that will mark out the English
landscape to any objective observer as the most deeply satisfying in the world, and
this quality is probably best summed up by the term 'greatness'[...]

And yet what precisely is this ‘greatness’? [...] I would say that it is the very lack of
obvious drama or spectacle that sets the beauty of our land apart. What is pertinent
is the calmness of that beauty, its sense of restraint. It is as though the land knows of
its own beauty, of its own greatness, and feels no need to shout it.2

A one-week journey in the West Country awakens memories from the past. The English
landscape that Stevens praises in the beginning of the novel represents an articulation of his
own aspirations to ‘greatness’. The landscape sets the dynamics for his recollections, “it is felt
to influence events and contribute to the experiences” 3 that shape the individual identity and,
furthermore, the collective national identity.

Stereotypical representations of England as, for instance, the countryside, the country house,
the English butler, the gentleman are considered merely instances of Englishness. Moreover,
he refers to the profession of a butler as a typical English trait: “It is sometimes said that
butlers only truly exist in England. Other countries, whatever title is actually used, have only
manservants. I tend to believe this is true.” (p. 43). The whole narrative is built up around
typical English values, but they are constantly put under question. A man who may not in fact
be a great gentleman, the class conditioning, or the “the butler’s ability not to abandon the
professional being he inhabits” are only some of the arguments that deconstruct the idealized
notions of dignity, loyalty, duty and tradition.

Kazuo Ishiguro’s writing indirectly brings into question the human ability to make their own
choices. Stevens repeats his father mistakes and remains trapped in an idealized past, in which

1
Taylor, Isabel, Exploring Englishness. Part I, The Rural Myth, p. 1
http://www.zyworld.com/albionmagazineonline/features1.htm.
2
Ishiguro, Kazuo, The Remains of the Day, Vintage International Ed., October 1993, pgs. 28-29 (emphasis
mine)
3
Smith, Anthony D.. Fragment from Myths and Memories of the Nation. The growth of Ethnoscapes.

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dignity is simply a lure. The illusory dignity of his profession obstructs his worldview and
makes him unable to declare his feelings for Miss Kenton within a forty-years span of time.
On the other side, Miss Kenton cannot put her pride aside and does not know how to help him
communicate. Stevens’ obsessive memories lead the readers towards an inevitable conclusion:

What is the point of worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not
have done to control the course one’s life took? Surely it is enough that the likes of
you and I at least try to make our small contribution count for something true and
worthy. And if some of us are prepared to sacrifice much in life in order to pursue
such aspirations, surely that in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and
contentment.4

The idea of past, and how it can or cannot be fetched up or beaten down, being conscious or
not of the way the time consumes or distorts their memories, is one of the main motifs in
Ishiguro’s fiction. We cannot help ourselves but asking, whether it is the man that hides
behind the butler, or the butler that hides behind the man.

4
Ishiguro, Kazuo, The Remains of the Day, Vintage International Ed., October 1993, p. 244

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary source

1. Ishiguro, Kazuo, The Remains of the Day, Vintage International Ed., October 1993
Secondary sources

1. Taylor, Isabel, Exploring Englishness. Part I, The Rural Myth

http://www.zyworld.com/albionmagazineonline/features1.htm.
2. Smith, Anthony D.. Fragment from Myths and Memories of the Nation. The growth of
Ethnoscapes.