What is Duty? An exploration of obligation and nostalgia in "The Remains of the Day"
Kazuo Ishiguro's mastery of nostalgia, a feeling which is universal and transcends time, is evident in many of his works. "The Remains of the Day" approaches nostalgia slowly. Much like in real life, this feeling creeps up on the reader every now and then, never fully joining us; only to, in the end, drown the reader in an ocean of his own tears. The novel deals with the narration of a man whose world is slowly coming apart. Mr Stevens is no longer young, he let the love of his life slip past him, and his profession is dying rapidly along with the type of individual who would employ someone the likes of him. Nevertheless, this is a man whose sense of duty is so pronounced that he seems to unconsciously ignore his life fluttering away. This begs the question, what is duty? Do we have a duty to remain loyal? Do we have a duty to the people who employ us? To the ones we love? And do we have a duty to ourselves to be happy?
Mr Stevens, an English butler, a concept which has now turned into myth. The invisible figure who has unlimited access between upstairs and downstairs. Mr Stevens likes his job. When he's able to make an evening go by smoothly he feels a sense of enjoyment and success. He is a contemplative man and through his memories, the reader learns of life at Darlington Hall before the war. The contrast between now and then is evident. Under Lord Darlington, the estate had a large staff and was the epitome of a respectable, English house. Under the management of the American Mr Farraday, the house not only has reduced drastically in staff but also in the seriousness in which certain activities are understood. For example, the polishing of the silver, which as Mr Stevens recalls: "Lord Darlington himself suggested that the silver might have been at least a small factor in the change in his guest’s mood that evening"; yet Mr. Farraday "failed to recognize the extent of the shortcoming [and] did not utter one word of complaint to me" when the tip of a fork turned black from a lack of polishing. It is during these flashbacks that we get a sense of what Mr Stevens values and strives for. The upkeep of the estate as well as the status of Darlington Hall is important for Stevens because he believes it is his duty and that this is a mark of dignity and of a great butler.
“The great butlers are great by virtue of their ability to inhabit their professional role and inhabit it to the utmost; they will not be shaken out by external events, however surprising, alarming or vexing. They wear their professionalism as a decent gentleman will wear his suit: he will not let ruffians or circumstance tear it off him in the public gaze; he will discard it when, and only when, he wills to do so, and this will invariably be when he is entirely alone. It is, as I say, a matter of ‘dignity’.”
— Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
Stevens dabbles throughout the entire book on what the meaning of dignity is. For him, dignity and duty go hand in hand. A butler worthy of admiration and praise is one who remains unshaken "by external events, however surprising, alarming, or vexing". This is what drives him to remain in Darlington Hall and it seems to fulfil him; nevertheless, the reader can't help but wonder if it isn't this fanaticism which keeps him from true happiness. Isn't this extreme sense of duty to the estate and "butlery" righteousness which drives Miss Kenton away? Surely, he can't be happy? And in a way, he is not. The management of Darlington Hall keeps him busy, yet, it is because of loyalty to Lord Darlington that he remains and not because of love. The motor trip reveals to the reader, and even to Mr Stevens himself, what kind of person Lord Darlington was and the type of life he could've had if he hadn't been so blinded by duty. Through Stevens recounting of the days when Lord Darlington was alive, his employer was a man who had good intentions; however, he was easily persuaded and slowly became a Nazi sympathizer. As it soon becomes clear, the glory days of the estate and of the butler profession are long gone, all the while revealing Stevens's hidden regrets about his life.
Stevens is in a constant state of wanting to go back, much like the entirety of the United Kingdom in 1956. Post-war Britain was plagued by nostalgia. All the glory of the British Empire had been lost as well as the nostalgia of its magnificent days; nevertheless, they still try to look positively into the present. Stevens does this by finding new ways of keeping himself busy and fulfilled under the management of Mr Farraday, his new employer. Nevertheless, Mr Stevens takes on the motoring trip, leaving Darlington Hall for the first time in years. This is a place where he contributed (indirectly) to important state affairs, and he also (indirectly) learns through this trip what the new politics of England are. Stevens's memories and nostalgia for the past are self-deceptive, and he slowly begins to contemplate the possibility that those are days which he can never go back. He painfully denies the prospect that the life of servitude and duty as the perfect butler is of vain achievements. The life he led in Darlington Hall, and the walls he built up, are slowly being torn down in this trip where he is forced to come across people who are living proof that times have changed.
True greatness can only be achieved by serving a great man, and in order to do so Stevens must maintain “dignity in keeping with his profession”. Inevitably, this means erasing his identity, except within those rare moments when he is on his own. As Stevens recalls, there was an incident where Darlington ordered Stevens to fire two Jewish maids, to which Miss Kenton became most distressed. Even though Stevens didn't agree with the grounds on which Lord Darlington wanted to fire the maids, he still did it. However, when talking about the incident long after it had passed Miss Kenton becomes surprised when she finds out Stevens was in agreement with her over the lack of fairness in the matter. Stevens is so well trained in the art of being a mute figure of service that even Miss Kenton seems to ignore that he might've also found it difficult to fire the maids. However, "he will not let ruffians or circumstance tear it off him in the public gaze; he will discard it when, and only when, he wills to do so, and this will invariably be when he is entirely alone". Stevens is a man who continues to work even when his father is on his death bed, so expecting him to put his principles over the execution of a job seems ridiculous.
Taking a stand against Lord Darlington is unthinkable, and leaving his position to pursue other paths in life even more so. The growing attraction between Miss Kenton and Mr Stevens becomes clearer as the novel advances, yet there is never any acknowledgement by either party. Miss Kenton is outspoken, except in the matter of her love for Stevens, and this makes sense. Stevens has more than once condemned "those persons who are simply going from post to post looking for romance”. For him, allowing his feeling for Miss Kenton to take the mast would mean failing in his duty as a butler because he would be allowing personal matters to take precedence. When Miss Kenton reveals she is getting married (which inevitably means she will resign from her post in Darlington Hall) Mr Stevens merely congratulates her and mentions that "there are matters of global significance taking place upstairs and I must return to my post." In doing so, he is letting her walk away. Stevens is so concerned with his duties that it hinders him from the possibility of a different (happier?) life. Stevens has completely annihilated any possibility of a romantic relationship for fear of being unprofessional. This leads to Miss Kenton accepting her suitor's marriage proposal and her leaving Darlington Hall and Stevens forever. Stevens can never find the courage to be a man, to be human, and allow himself to pursue the woman he loves. It seems as if even in the recounting of his memories he is making sure of keeping a professional distance between them both. Doesn't Stevens have a duty to himself? How can he be so calm in letting love swish past him?
Well, I wish you’d told me so at the time. It would have helped me a great deal if I’d known you felt the same way as I did. Why, why, Mr. Stevens, why do you always have to hide what you feel?
— Miss Kenton
So, what is duty? Is it measured solely by our ability to perform a job at the best capacity possible? Is it measured by our loyalty to our employer, like Mr Stevens? To our post? Or is it something else? Did Miss Kenton fulfil a duty by marrying a man and having kids and moving to Cornwall to live a quieter, calmer life? Or is duty simply a word that humans invented to ignore the fact that, maybe, there is no meaning in what we do? Everything in the novel slowly fades away. England is no longer what it was, Darlington Hall is understaffed, the butler profession is merely but a bad dream, and people like Lord Darlington are becoming increasingly rare. There is no such thing as a great butler because it is a job as rare as they come. There is no such thing as a great, honourable household because men such as Lord Darlington died and have been forgotten. The only thing that seems to have stood the test of time is Miss Kenton's and Mr Stevens' love. So, did Stevens make the wrong choice? Did he choose the short end of the stick? Because everything he held on to while he was letting Miss Kenton go was that which is now dead. This blind loyalty which fogged his eyesight for so long only flutters away momentarily when Stevens reflects on his life; however, he admires the sun going down, and then proceeds to look forward to banter with Mr Farraday. Just like that, he holds on to the belief that keeps him going yet also enslaves him to life inside Darlington Hall.
After the man sitting on the same bench as him point out that most people - great people - look forward to the evening, the best part of the day, Mr Stevens seems to finally realize what his life has been about. Everything has been for the sole purpose of becoming a great butler in conjunction to the British Empire, one of greatness (much like Mr Stevens). It is with the same beauty of moderation that Mr Stevens witnessed at Salisbury during his trip that he achieved this, yet this is nothing but a void accomplishment and an empty testament of a Britain which is now long gone.
