[Pg. 22-32] Plot and Structure of The Remains of the Day

Who is the Remains of the Day narrated by?

Primarily, retrospectively Stevens

Since The Remains of the Day is retrospective, what is it mostly made up of?

Recollections and remarks on those recollections

In The Remains of the Day, how are we frequently primed to be suspicious of Stevens’ reliability as a narrator of his own past?

Either a clearly inaccurate memory or a clearly contradictory interpretation

In The Remains of the Day, who do we encounter the memories and interpretations of the story exclusively through?

Stevens

The Remains of the Day features what kind of significant accounts?

Retrospective ones

What is The Remains of the Day a narrative of?

An ongoing journey

When do many important moments happen to Stevens?

During his motoring trip

Where does Stevens take his motoring trip?

Through the Southwestern countryside of England toward Cornwall

Why does Stevens go towards Cornwall?

To have a fateful meeting with Miss Kenton

What are Stevens’ transformations during his journey caused by?

Both his internal reflections and by his encounters with other people

What is most significant about Steven’s journey?

His travels prompt him to thank about, reflect upon, and, in some cases, reinterpret

Who is the narrator and protagonist of The Remains of the Day?

Stevens

What has Stevens, in the beginning of The Remains of the Day, been offered by Mr. Farraday?

The opportunity to take a driving vacation

Who is Mr. Farraday?

In The Remains of the Day, Stevens’ employer

As the novel, what intent does Stevens announce?

To accept the vacation offer

What does Stevens say when announcing his acceptance of his driving vacation opportunity?

“It seems increasingly likely that I really will undertake the expedition that has been preoccupying my imagination now for some days”

What does Stevens do after accepting Mr. Farraday’s vacation offer?

Lay out his reasons for accepting

What does the prologue of The Remains of the Day gives readers their first glimpse of?

Stevens’ subjectivity, his cultural milieu, and the all-important location of Darlington Hall, where Stevens has lived and worked for decades

Where has Stevens lived and worked for decades?

Darlington Hall

What does Stevens work as?

A butler in Darlington Hall

What does Stevens do as a butler?

Functions as both a personal assistant to the owner of the house as well as the manager of the domestic staff

Who was Stevens’ former employer

the British nobleman Lord Darlington

Who did Lord Darlington recently sell his estate to?

American Mr. Farraday

What brought many changes for Stevens

Mr. Farraday buying the Darlington estate

What did Stevens have to do first after Mr. Farraday’s acquisition of Darlington Hall?

Shrink the house’s staff

What did Stevens shrinking the Darlington Hall staff reflect?

The fact that Mr. Farraday would only partially occupy the estate

Why could Mr. Farraday only partially occupy the estate?

He would spend other portions of the year abroad in the U.S.

What did Stevens have to do second after Mr. Farraday’s acquisition of the Darlington Hall?

Stevens had to adapt to a very different professional relationship with his new employer

Why did Stevens have to adapt to a different professional relationship with his employer?

Mr. Farraday likes banter

Why was there such a big transition from working for Lord Darlington to working for Mr. Farraday for Stevens?

Background and expectations; While Lord Darlington was a member of the British aristocracy, Mr. Farraday was a wealthy American

What does Mr. Farraday enjoy?

As Stevens puts it, the art of “bantering,” or “conversation of a light-hearted, humorous sort”

Why was it difficult for Stevens to adapt to working for Mr. Farraday?

Bantering was both unfamiliar to and uncomfortable for Stevens

What does the prologue of The Remains of the Day involve?

Stevens reflecting on the Darlington Hall acquisition changes

In the year since Mr. Farraday purchased Darlington Hall, what has Stevens attempted to do?

Adapt to his new employer’s personality and management style

In the prologue, What actions exemplifies Stevens’ attempt to adapt to Mr. Farraday’s personality and management style?

Unsuccessfully trying to engage in banter with his employer

How did Stevens’ first attempt to banter with Mr. Farraday play out?

It failed miserably

While Mr. Farraday plans his return to the U.S., What opportunity does Mr. Farraday offer Stevens?

The chance to take a vacation

Why does Stevens decide to accept Mr. Farraday’s offer?

1. He realizes he has been making mistakes as a butler and hopes the trip will clear his mind and help him refocus

2. He is interested in the chance to drive Mr. Farraday’s ford across the beautiful British countryside

3. He has recently received a letter from Miss Kenton

Who is Miss Kenton?

A former employee at Darlington Hall

What location was used for outside shots of the fictional Darlington Hall in the film version of The Remains of the Day?

Dyrham Park, Chappenham, near Bath, Somerset

What does Stevens believe Miss Kenton’s letter reveals?

Miss Kenton’s desire to return to work at Darlington Hall

Due to Miss Kenton’s letter, what does the vacation turn into for Stevens?

Both a personal and professional opportunity

What does Stevens believe will happen if he drives to see Miss Kenton?

He might be able to convince her to return to work at Darlington Hall

When Stevens tells Mr. Farraday about his plan to meet Miss Kenton, what does Mr. Farraday do?

Engages in a small bit of banter with him about this

What does Mr. Farraday say when Stevens tells him about his plan to see Miss Kenton?

“‘My, my, Stevens. A lady-friend. And at your age…I’d never have figured you for such a lady’s man, Stevens’ he went on. ‘Keeps the spirit young, I guess. But then I really don’t know if it’s right for me to be helping you with such dubious assignations’”

What are Mr. Farraday’s comments about Stevens and Miss Kenton?

Obvious bantering jokes

While Stevens recognizes Mr. Farraday’s comments about his relationship with Miss Kenton are obvious jokes, what does he find the situation?

Embarrassing

What does Stevens feel a strong desire to do in response to Mr. Farraday’s jokes about him and Miss Kenton?

“deny immediately and unambiguously such motivations as my employer was inputting to me”

What provides the reader with their first sense of Stevens’ unreliability?

His adamant, insistent denial of any special feelings for Miss Kenton

What will come to be Stevens’ most defining characteristic throughout the novel?

His unrealiability

Why is Stevens an unreliable narrator?

He is not always aware of his own motives, desires, and biases, as well as their effects on his decision making

In the prologue, what does Stevens spend time reminiscing about?

Past experiences at Darlington Hall, particularly regarding opportunities to meet and serve “the greatest ladies and gentlemen of the land”

Over the years, fewer and fewer “great” men and women have done what?

Visited Darlington Hall

Over the years, fewer and fewer domestic employees have been employed where?

Darlington Hall

What development does Stevens regret because he no longer has many opportunities to spend pleasant evenings with colleagues?

The lack of “great” people visiting Darlington Hall and the lack of domestic employers

What losses does Stevens regret due to the seemed decline in quality in his profession because of these losses?

A loss of “great” people visiting Darlington Hall and a loss of domestic employees

What does Stevens reflect on with sadness in regard to the decline of his profession?

There used to be a true comraderie in his profession (even if there were differences in approaches, they were all cut from the same cloth) which isn’t there anymore.

What does Stevens reflect on with sadness in concerns to the butlers that arrive at Darlington Hall now?

1. They’re likely newcomers who have little to say about anything other than association football

2. They would rather spend their evenings drinking at Ploughman’s Arms or—more increasingly likely nowadays, the Star Inn— then sit by the fire of the Servants’ hall and talk

How often is it that an employee accompanies a guest to Darlington Hall?

Rare

What does Stevens’ rueful reflection on the changing state of the profession illustrate?

His bias towards what he calls the “old ways,” or the manners, customs, and hierarchies that used to dominate the British upper classes

Where does Stevens stay after completing the first day of his journey in The Remains of the Day

The English Countryside near Salisbury

As Stevens starts his journey to the West Country to visit Miss Kenton, after the prologue, what two critical aspects of his subjectivity have been revealed?

1. His discomfort with personal emotions

2. His high regard for British aristocratic norms

After completing the first day of his journey, where did Steven rent a modest room?

The city of Salisbury

What does Stevens do in his rented Salisbury room after the first day of his journey?

Reflect upon his travels so far

During the first part of his first day driving, what did he happen to stop the car by?

A man who was resting on the side of the road

What does the man Stevens meets on his first day of travel encourage him to do?

Hike up a path that leads to the top of a hill that allegedly offered an amazing view

On the first day, Stevens climbs to the top of the hill and finds out that the man’s words were what?

Right: the view is beautiful

To Stevens, what was, on the first day, the view atop the hill?

A true illustration of the unmatched natural greatness of the English countryside

What does Stevens believe about the English countryside?

It’s the most beautiful in the world

Why does Stevens believe the English countryside is the most beautiful in the world?

Its lack of “obvious drama or spectacle,” especially when compared to the “unseemly demonstrativeness” of other landscapes across the globe

What does Stevens’ meditations on the greatness of the British landscape lead him to reflect on?

The greatness of his profession

What question does Stevens spend much of the first chapter turning over?

“What is a ‘great’ butler?”

For Stevens, what is greatness in a butler not?

A matter of excessive style, or knowledge, or even the ability to manage large gatherings

For Stevens, what is greatness in a butler?

A matter of dignity

How does Stevens define dignity?

The ability to not “abandon the professional being [a butler] inhabits”

To illustrate what dignity is, what does Stevens use examples of?

His father’s life

What profession did Stevens’ father have?

Butler

What story was Stevens’ father fond of telling?

That of a butler for a British household in colonial India who, after removing a tiger from the house, told his employer "that there would be “no discernible traces left of the recent occurrence”

Why did Stevens’ father love to tell the tiger story?

For him, it perfectly illustrated the importance of keeping calm and composed during trying moments, or of maintaining the steadiness of the “professional self” regardless of how the “private self” is feeling

How does Stevens further illustrate his father’s dignity?