The Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day employs a complicated structure. The novel's main narrative portrays Stevens’s journey south to meet Miss Kenton. However, most of the story is composed of flashbacks to earlier events. Most chapters begin in Stevens’s present (though written in the past tense) and then delve deeper into the past as events and people inspire memories. This interplay between the past and the present is key to understanding Stevens’s character. He is a person who is caught in the past. He is the product of a bygone age in terms of his career, as his profession and the attitudes it entails are decidedly out of touch. His relationship with his new employer is awkward, as Mr. Farraday does not understand Stevens’s old-fashioned ways. Furthermore, Stevens is stuck in the past because he is haunted by the missed opportunities in his life. His unrequited affection for Miss Kenton and his misguided decision to dedicate his life to a disgraced public figure make him doubt whether his life has been worthwhile. In this sense, the structure of the novel makes perfect sense. Stevens’s present is held hostage by his past. Each action and gesture in his present give him new insight into the thoughts and feelings which have held his emotions captive for decades. The novel's structure echoes how Stevens tries to understand himself and his identity in the present by understanding his past.

As made evident in the prologue, Stevens’s interrogation of his past is a private matter. His narration style is matter-of-fact and formal, reflecting his conception of dignity. He gives insight and details into his profession but never into his emotional state. When Farraday jokes with Stevens, for example, Stevens is embarrassed on a professional rather than a personal level. He feels no need to form an emotional bond with this new figure in his life, just as he feels no need to form an emotional bond with other people. However, the idea that he may not be living up to his employer’s expectations mortifies Stevens. His meticulous approach to serving his employer compels him to try (and fail) to make a joke, even though it goes completely against his character. Stevens approaches his narration in a similar way. He provides a meticulous, rigorous narration of everything he does and everything his life entails but rarely provides direct insight into his emotional state. He insists to the audience and Farraday that he wishes to see Miss Kenton on a professional basis, while the subtext implies that he is thinking about the missed opportunity for a potential romantic relationship they might once have had. He has thought about her for many years, going so far as to envision where she now lives by reading guidebooks in the library. However, Stevens only mentions these guidebooks in reference to their thoroughness and usefulness, forcing the reader to infer his obsession with Miss Kenton since her departure. Stevens’s narration is thorough and subtle, just like his profession. The deep yearning and insecurity can be glimpsed between the lines, however, as Stevens adapts to a changing world.

The beginning of Stevens’s journey shows how much his life has revolved around Darlington Hall. After just a few miles, the territory is unfamiliar, and he is surprised by his surroundings. For years, Stevens has lived in a bubble while everything around him has rapidly changed. That Stevens does not recognize this in his narration is a key part of his character: he is so dedicated to his idea of service that he cannot imagine that anywhere outside of Darlington Hall would be important to him. Despite the changing people and politics of the world, he appreciates everything outside of Darlington Hall, like the view he has from the top of the hill. To Stevens, the outside world is distant, wondrous, unknowable, and unchanging. He is happy that it exists but happy enough to be apart from it, respecting its quiet dignity in the hope that it will respect his. As becomes clear throughout the remainder of the novel, Stevens’s dedication to his unique and insular conception of dignity can blind him to the changing nature of the world and the things he truly desires. For all his declarative love of the vistas of the English countryside, he does not truly understand the world as it spreads out before him.