Verified Document

Remains Of The Day The Best Of Term Paper

Remains of the Day The Best of England within These Walls

The "wall" imagery helps to make a particular point early on in The Remains of the Day. Stevens is up against a wall in a literal and in a figurative way: he is dusting the books (more of which his new employer the American Mr. Farraday has come to give him). Books themselves are symbols of memory that are caught between two walls, or covers. That Stevens should be dusting them just as he is about to embark on a journey down "memory lane" is indicative of the overall mood of the novel: it is a thoughtful look backward, a sad yet thankful recounting of life limited by the bounds of duty. As a butler, an office of servitude, Stevens has "seen" more than his fair share of "great" persons. But there is one person in particular whom he thinks of now -- Miss Kenton. She represents a missed opportunity for Stevens, an opportunity to do something more than dust books and wait on others. But bound by pride in his office, Stevens has remained "chained," if you will, to the wall lined now with books. What might have been a romance of married life with Miss Kenton haunts him -- not terribly -- but enough to give his mind something to reflect upon in what remains of his days. This paper will examine Stevens' early admission to Mr. Farraday that he has seen "the best of England…within these very walls," and show how Stevens is alluding to the walls,...

Parts of this document are hidden

View Full Document
svg-one

He does not let them show but reserves them in the name of modesty. It is this very point that stops him from confessing to Mr. Farraday what he means when he says that he has seen the best of England within these very walls. He does not want to be "presumptuous." Therefore he hides his reasoning, even though Farraday is inviting him, literally, to open up: "I'm serious, Stevens. I really think you should take a break. I'll foot the bill for the gas. You fellows, you're always locked up in these big houses helping out, how do you ever get to see around this beautiful country of yours?" asks Farraday.
Thus, Stevens is prompted to say, "It has been my privilege to see the best of England over the years, sir, within these very walls."

Stevens admits several things here. First, he admits that he is in a privileged position, even though he is just a servant. Second, he admits that he has witnessed much more than Farraday gives him credit for. Third, as an "insider" who is yet "outside" the circles of rank, whom he serves, Stevens is able to view England's "finest" with an objectivity that someone who is too involved in the circles might lack. Fourth, Stevens alludes to a secret privilege…which he now tells to the reader -- his friendship with…

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Best Buy Began Its Operations in 1966
Words: 1619 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Best Buy began its operations in 1966 by founder Richard M. Shulze. The company started its operations by a single radio shop called "The Sound of Music." By 1970, Sound of music was already successful and earning annual revenues exceeding one million dollars. The company was selling asa radio and Hi-Fi stereo and maintained a good status, until 1981 when a tornado hit one of the original stores. Tornodo damages

Best Buy the Company That
Words: 1363 Length: 5 Document Type: Research Paper

Part II. The company is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol BBY. Best Buy had its initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq in 1985 but migrated to the NYSE in 1987. A chart of the company's stock over the past four weeks is as follows: Source: Yahoo! Finance (2013) Short-term movements in share price are mostly relevant to day traders. Most investors hold the stock much more than

Remains of the Day Stevens'
Words: 922 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Dignity is a central theme of the book, and Stevens admires it both n his employer and in himself and his peers. It also comes at the cost of sacrifice, and Stevens went without a romantic relationship out of his desire to remain at Darlington Hall and continue to serve his beloved master Lord Darlington. This explanation Stevens makes of his generation, which was coming into adulthood in the years

Remains of the Day in
Words: 1740 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

In effect, his inability to accept the new order forces him to pretend to accept it as part of his complete dedication toward his role as butler; and he maintains his dignity inwardly by giving it up externally. Stevens' outward acceptance of the new order serves as a metaphor for Britain as a nation accepting the new circumstances it found itself after the dissolution of it former Empire. Ishiguro attempts

Best Practices in Recruitment and Hiring
Words: 1452 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Staffing Unit Leadership Talent Staffing Unit Leadership Our company's standard procedures for search, recruitment, and selection of employees is designed to ensure a high level of process efficiency, procedural consistency, regulatory compliance, and overall fair[footnoteRef:1]ness to all stakeholders. We recommend the following steps to create structure for the recruitment and selection process: 1) Identify the vacancy (vacancies) and evaluate the staffing qualifications needed for the position(s); 2) Develop a job description specific

Best Practices for Pandemic Containment
Words: 2880 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Paper

PANDEMIC CONTAINMENTPandemics and Best Practices for ContainmentIntroductionSince the earliest moments of civilization, humanity has been plagued by disease. However, it would be prudent to note that although man has been afflicted by various diseases, very few disease outbreaks have achieved the pandemic status. Some of the worst pandemics known to man have been inclusive of, but they are not limited to; Black Death (1346-1353), Plague of Justinian (541-442), Smallpox (1500),

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now