The Remains of the Day I

Howdy everyone!

To start off I'd like to agree with some of you that this book is read much quicker than the other two. When I compare the narrator's voice to that of the narrators of the otehr two novels, I find that this narrator, Stevens, sounds a lot more cold and straighforward. In One Hundred Years Of Solitude the narrator would be so expressive and almost romantic in his way of describing characters and situations. I am not saying that this story isn't descriptive, in fact, I do have a clear picture of the characters and the situations. In response to Courtney's question, I don't think it is the most descriptive of the novel we read, but it is descriptive in its own cold and removed way.

Someone already mentioned (I think it was Kevin) that Stevens' tone comes from being English. Well it is true that the English are notorious for being more reserved and less able to express their emotions but I am not sure that is exactly the reason for Stevens' behavior. Moving on to Emily's question (mad props emily, that was a sick question) I think that Stevens' lack of social ability is due to his preoccupation with his job. Stevens' is so obesssed with being "a great butler" that he rambles on about dignity and devotes all of himself to his job. He is so socially awkard that eventually Miss Kenton wants as little to do with him as possible and only communicates to him through a messenger or notes.

As everyone else has already mentioned, Stevens has an interesting way of speaking. Some of you are not fans of Stevens but I definitly am. I love his need to be so proper with his comples sentences and I also love how the man has a drifting mind. He starts off telling us about a trip somewhere then goes off on a tangent about his father being a great butler, and in the end goes back to his trip. I have a friend (no names) who can't stay focused on one story and I kind of like that about Stevens.

There is something, however that I do not like about the character. I understand that Stevens needs to remain focused on keeping things in order during the conference, but it just bothers me how he shows no emotions towards his dying father. As shown on page 97 and other pages, Stevens' father tries to say his goodbyes to his son and Stevens pays little attention. Instead he seems to deal with the situation by avoiding it. Another passage that upset me a bit was on page 106 where Stevens' father dies and it seems like Miss Kenton is more affected by it that Stevens himself. In fact, Stevens continues to tend to the guests while Miss Kenton shuts the eyes of Stevens Senior. Stevens mentions that he remains calm and focused on his job to make his father proud but I am sure everyone would understand if he stopped to tend to his father for a while.

I understand that to Stevens dignity and being a great butler are important but to me, loyalty to family are a lot more important. I'd rather be a good son than a good butler any day. Family comes first.