Remains of the Day Set 1

In the Prologue, when and where does Stevens narrate from?

July 1956 at Darlington Hall.

In the Prologue, whose car does Stevens plan to use for his expedition?

Mr Farraday's Ford.

In the Prologue, where does Stevens plan to travel?

Through the English countryside to the West Country.

In the Prologue, how long does Stevens expect his expedition may keep him away from Darlington Hall?

Five or six days.

In the Prologue, who first suggests that Stevens take a motoring trip?

Mr Farraday.

In the Prologue, why will Mr Farraday be away from Darlington Hall?

He plans to return to the United States for five weeks between August and September.

In the Prologue, what expense does Mr Farraday offer to pay for Stevens's trip?

The gasoline.

In the Prologue, how does Stevens claim he has seen the best of England despite rarely traveling?

He has seen England's greatest ladies and gentlemen gathered within the walls of great houses.

In the Prologue, what causes Stevens to reconsider Mr Farraday's offer of a trip?

A letter from Miss Kenton.

In the Prologue, how long has it been since Stevens received a proper letter from Miss Kenton?

Almost seven years, excluding Christmas cards.

In the Prologue, what professional problem has recently troubled Stevens?

He has committed a series of small errors in his duties.

In the Prologue, what does Stevens conclude caused his recent errors?

A faulty staff plan that gives him too much to do.

In the Prologue, what does Stevens call the cornerstone of any decent butler's skills?

The ability to draw up a good staff plan.

In the Prologue, how long had Darlington Hall belonged to the Darlington family before its sale?

Two centuries.

In the Prologue, who purchased Darlington Hall from the Darlington family?

Mr Farraday.

In the Prologue, which member of the old skeleton staff remains after Mr Farraday buys the house?

Mrs Clements.

In the Prologue, whom does Stevens hire on Mrs Clements's recommendation?

Rosemary and Agnes.

In the Prologue, which four resident employees must run Darlington Hall under Stevens's staff plan?

Mrs Clements, Rosemary, Agnes, and Stevens.

In the Prologue, what concession does Mr Farraday allow if a four-person staff proves insufficient?

An additional staff member may be hired.

In the Prologue, what central weakness does Stevens eventually recognize in his staff plan?

He allowed margins for the others but not enough margin for his own limitations.

In the Prologue, what does Stevens believe Miss Kenton's letter hints at?

Nostalgia for Darlington Hall and a desire to return to work there.

In the Prologue, what professional purpose does Stevens assign to his trip?

To visit Miss Kenton and determine whether she wants to return to Darlington Hall.

In the Prologue, where has Miss Kenton lived since leaving Darlington Hall?

Cornwall.

In the Prologue, in what year did Miss Kenton leave Darlington Hall?

1936.

In the Prologue, what travel books encourage Stevens's interest in the West Country?

Mrs Jane Symons's seven-volume series The Wonder of England.

In the Prologue, why does Stevens care about wearing suitable clothes while traveling?

He may have to identify himself as being from Darlington Hall and wants to appear worthy of his position.

In the Prologue, why does Stevens choose afternoon tea as the moment to request permission for his trip?

Mr Farraday has usually returned from his walk and is less absorbed in reading or writing.

In the Prologue, what mistake makes Stevens's request for a trip embarrassing?

He mentions that a former housekeeper lives in the West Country.

In the Prologue, what does Mr Farraday jokingly infer about Miss Kenton?

That she is Stevens's lady-friend and the trip is a romantic assignation.

In the Prologue, what aspect of working for Mr Farraday repeatedly unsettles Stevens?

Mr Farraday's bantering and Stevens's uncertainty about how to respond.

In the Prologue, why does Stevens regard bantering as professionally dangerous?

He fears making a bantering remark when such a response is inappropriate.

In the Prologue, what happens when Stevens attempts to banter about swallows and crows?

Mr Farraday does not understand the joke, and Stevens excuses himself.

In the Prologue, what decline in the butler profession does Stevens observe?

The old camaraderie and opportunities for serious professional discussion have largely disappeared.

In the Prologue, why does Stevens hope Mr Harry Graham will visit Darlington Hall?

He wants Graham's opinion on the problem of bantering.

In the Prologue, why is Mr Harry Graham unable to advise Stevens about bantering?

Sir James Chambers visits alone, and Stevens learns Graham is no longer employed by him.

In the Prologue, does Mr Farraday ultimately approve Stevens's trip?

Yes, and he repeats his offer to pay for the gasoline.

What does Stevens say in the Prologue about his experience of England inside Darlington Hall?

"It has been my privilege to see the best of England over the years, sir, within these very walls."

What exact diagnosis does Stevens make of his own workload in the Prologue?

"I had given myself too much to do."

What does Mr Farraday say in the Prologue after Stevens mentions Miss Kenton?

"My, my, Stevens. A lady-friend. And at your age."

What failed witticism does Stevens offer Mr Farraday in the Prologue?

"More like swallows than crows, I would have said, sir. From the migratory aspect."

How does the Prologue establish Stevens as an unreliable narrator regarding Miss Kenton?

He insists her letter contains professional hints of returning while repeatedly defending himself against the possibility that he is imagining them.

How does the Prologue connect professionalism with emotional repression?

Stevens recasts his desire to see Miss Kenton as a staffing problem and a professional errand.

How does the Prologue show the decline of the English country-house system?

Darlington Hall has passed from a two-century-old English family to an American owner and is run by only four resident servants.

In Day One - Evening, from what city does Stevens narrate?

Salisbury.

In Day One - Evening, why does Stevens leave Darlington Hall almost an hour later than planned?

He repeatedly walks through the house checking that everything is in order.

In Day One - Evening, why is Stevens uneasy about leaving Darlington Hall?

With Mrs Clements and the girls away, the house will stand empty, perhaps for the first time since it was built.

In Day One - Evening, what first makes Stevens feel that he has truly left Darlington Hall behind?

The countryside becomes unfamiliar after he passes his previous boundaries.

In Day One - Evening, what two emotions does Stevens feel upon entering unfamiliar country?

Unease and exhilaration.

In Day One - Evening, why does Stevens stop the Ford near a hillside?

He briefly fears he may be on the wrong road and wants to take stock.

In Day One - Evening, who directs Stevens to a nearby viewpoint?

A thin, white-haired local man in a cloth cap.

In Day One - Evening, what remark provokes Stevens to climb the steep footpath?

The local man suggests that in a couple of years it might be too late for Stevens to make the climb.

In Day One - Evening, what does Stevens find at the top of the footpath?

A bench and a broad view of rolling English countryside.

In Day One - Evening, how does the hilltop view change Stevens's mood?

It gives him anticipation for the journey and renewed resolve about Miss Kenton.

In Day One - Evening, at approximately what time does Stevens arrive in Salisbury?

Around three thirty in the afternoon.

In Day One - Evening, why does the Salisbury landlady mistake Stevens for a grand gentleman?

Because of Mr Farraday's Ford, Stevens's high-quality suit, and his Darlington Hall address.

In Day One - Evening, what famous building does Stevens visit in Salisbury?

Salisbury Cathedral.

In Day One - Evening, which sight leaves the strongest impression on Stevens?

The morning view of the rolling English countryside.

In Day One - Evening, what word does Stevens use to describe the special quality of the English landscape?

Greatness.

In Day One - Evening, where does Stevens locate the greatness of the English landscape?

In its calmness, restraint, and lack of obvious drama or spectacle.

In Day One - Evening, what professional question does the English landscape lead Stevens to consider?

What makes a great butler.

In Day One - Evening, which two butlers does Stevens say set the standards of his generation?

Mr Marshall of Charleville House and Mr Lane of Bridewood.

In Day One - Evening, why does Stevens reject Mr Jack Neighbours as a great butler?

Neighbours had organizational skill and temporary fame but lacked the essential qualities of true greatness.

In Day One - Evening, what organization once tried to define the qualifications of a great butler?

The Hayes Society.

In Day One - Evening, when was the Hayes Society influential?

During the 1920s and early 1930s.

In Day One - Evening, what household requirement did the Hayes Society impose on applicants?

They had to be attached to a distinguished household.

In Day One - Evening, what class prejudice undermined the Hayes Society's authority in Stevens's view?

It excluded the houses of businessmen and the newly rich from the category of distinguished households.

In Day One - Evening, what did the Hayes Society identify as its most crucial membership criterion?

Dignity in keeping with one's position.

In Day One - Evening, what quality does Stevens say distinguishes great butlers from merely competent ones?

Dignity.

In Day One - Evening, how does Mr Graham understand dignity?

As an unanalyzable natural quality like a woman's beauty.

In Day One - Evening, how does Stevens disagree with Mr Graham about dignity?

Stevens believes dignity can be developed through self-training and experience.

In Day One - Evening, whom does Stevens regard as the embodiment of dignity at the peak of his career?

His father.

In Day One - Evening, at what house did Stevens's father reach the peak of his career?

Loughborough House.

In Day One - Evening, what conventional attributes of a great butler did Stevens's father lack?

A polished accent, strong command of language, and wide general knowledge.

In Day One - Evening, what does Stevens consider the superficial trimmings of butlering?

Accent, eloquence, and encyclopedic general knowledge.

In Day One - Evening, what story did Stevens's father repeatedly tell as an ideal of butlerly conduct?

The story of an Indian butler who calmly discovers and disposes of a tiger under the dining table.

In the tiger story in Day One - Evening, how does the butler respond to seeing the animal?

He quietly closes the dining-room doors and asks permission to use the twelve-bores.

In the tiger story in Day One - Evening, what does the butler assure his employer after the gunshots?

Dinner will be served at the usual time and no discernible traces of the incident will remain.

In Day One - Evening, why is the tiger story important to Stevens's understanding of his father?

It reveals the ideal of unshaken professionalism that his father spent his career pursuing.

In Day One - Evening, who tells Stevens about his father's conduct during a drunken motoring excursion?

Mr David Charles of the Charles and Redding Company.

In Day One - Evening, whom did Stevens's father serve at Loughborough House?

The industrialist Mr John Silvers.

In Day One - Evening, how long did Stevens's father serve at Loughborough House?

Fifteen years.

In Day One - Evening, what do Mr Smith and Mr Jones do during the motoring excursion?

They get drunk, behave coarsely, insult Stevens's father, and then insult his employer.

In Day One - Evening, what finally causes Stevens's father to stop the car?

A particularly vile insinuation against his employer, Mr John Silvers.

In Day One - Evening, how does Stevens's father rebuke the drunken passengers?

He silently opens the rear door and stands over them until they apologize.

In Day One - Evening, what happens after the passengers apologize to Stevens's father?

He closes the door, resumes driving, and completes the tour in near silence.

In Day One - Evening, who was Leonard?

Stevens's elder brother.

In Day One - Evening, in what war was Stevens's brother Leonard killed?

The Southern African War.

In Day One - Evening, why is Leonard's death especially painful for Stevens's father?

Leonard died needlessly in an infamous, badly commanded attack on civilian Boer settlements.

In Day One - Evening, who later visits Loughborough House and forces Stevens's father to confront his private grief?

The general responsible for the maneuver in which Leonard died.

In Day One - Evening, what choice does Mr John Silvers offer Stevens's father before the General's visit?

Several days of leave for the duration of the General's stay.

In Day One - Evening, why does Stevens's father refuse leave during the General's visit?

He knows Mr Silvers's business hopes depend on the smooth running of the large house party.

In Day One - Evening, what extra service does Stevens's father volunteer to provide for the General?

He serves as the General's valet.

In Day One - Evening, how long must Stevens's father serve the General at close quarters?

Four days.

In Day One - Evening, how successfully does Stevens's father conceal his hatred of the General?

The General compliments his excellence and leaves an unusually large tip.

In Day One - Evening, what does Stevens's father do with the General's large tip?

He asks Mr Silvers to donate it to charity.

In Day One - Evening, how does Stevens finally define dignity?

The ability to remain fully within one's professional role despite surprising, alarming, or vexing events.

In Day One - Evening, when does Stevens believe a great butler removes his professional role?

Only when he chooses to do so, invariably when entirely alone.

In Day One - Evening, why does Stevens claim great butlers are almost necessarily English?

He believes the English possess a unique emotional restraint required for dignity.

How does Day One - Evening connect the landscape motif to Stevens's professional ideal?

He praises the landscape's restraint and lack of display, then defines great butlers by the same restrained dignity.

How does Day One - Evening reveal a danger in Stevens's idea of dignity?

He treats suppression of private emotion, even grief for a son, as the highest form of professional greatness.