Themes of remains of the day
- Created by: Rhiannon Gillard2
- Created on: 11-03-16 14:30
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- Themes of remains of the day
- Banter
- Central and undying theme
- introduced in the prologue
- Stevens starts practising banter on the new people he meets
- Locals in the coach and horses inn, but is unsuccessful
- End of the novel
- met the retired who strikes up a conversation with him and tells him to enjoy his own age
- Stevens listens to the people around him chatting with a positive frame of mind
- Realises banter is 'the key to human warmth'
- realises that he has truly wasted his life
- sees the value of bantering
- Butlers and dignity
- Stevens is preoccupied with the notion of dignity
- cites his own father as an example of a perfect butler
- 'dignity in keeping one's position'
- Key trope to this theme;
- the tiger under the table
- cites his own father as an example of a perfect butler
- becomes obsessed with being a perfect butler
- Reaction to the coldness of his father
- channelled all his emotions into being the perfect butler
- gives him a purpose
- escapism from misery of his unloving father
- uses his duty to hide his emotions
- focuses on serving port while his father is dying
- discusses Giffens silver polish in detail and focuses on it to the exclusion of real life and real events
- Stevens is preoccupied with the notion of dignity
- Englishness and Americans
- 'Being English'
- English countryside reflects the English people
- has calmness, and sense of restraint
- 'Butlers only truly exist in England'
- English countryside reflects the English people
- American
- Mr Lewis
- Characterised as being brash, confident and unafraid
- ruthless to get his own way
- Mr Lewis
- Mr Farraday
- Stevens attitude changes towards him by end of novel
- resolving in banter with him in future
- 'Being English'
- Humour and Steven's 'Laugh'
- Ishiguro punctures the quiet tragedy of the novel with moments of supreme humour
- Never sees anything funny, has to concentrate on being perfect
- Humour is to gently mock and add poignancy to the tragic events as they unfold
- Never remotely aware of his humour
- Ishiguro pokes fun at his creation Stevens.
- by satirising the way he takes himself so seriously
- Ishiguro gently mocks the battle of wills between Miss Kenton and Stevens
- Ishiguro punctures the quiet tragedy of the novel with moments of supreme humour
- Banter
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