Summer Reading Analysis - The Remains of the Day, Part I

I must admit that this book is my favorite out of all of the summer books, and I am quite puzzled why. I find myself becoming extremely involved in this novel, even (dare I say it?) wanting to read more. I greatly enjoy the language used in this novel. It isn't as simple as modern-day English, but it isn't as complex as something written by Shakespeare. I find the "proper English" style of speaking interesting, and I enjoy reading books written in this manner. Perhaps this is why I enjoy the book? I don't even really know myself.

Having said that, there are a couple points of discussion I would like to bring up. I found the description of the English countryside to be phenomenal, particularly the analysis presented on page 28. I find it extremely interesting from a philosophical point of view, and being that philosophy is one of my major areas of interest, I enjoyed the analysis greatly. Steven's explains that the English countryside is so magnificent because it "lack[s]... obvious drama or spectacle" and simply IS beautiful. For me, what comes to mind is the comparison of two locations that I have visited in my travels, namely the White Mountains in New Hampshire and Niagara Falls in Canada. It made sense to me, because even though Niagara Falls is an extremely beautiful sight, I personally find the mountains to be far more beautiful and sublime. I think it's because the mountain merely IS beautiful, while the waterfall must perform an action to make it beautiful (the water falling over a ledge). I'm not sure. I just like the explanation, haha.

Finally, I would like to disagree with a few of the statements presented by my fellow students. I have observed that some people view Stevens as "concieted", or that he has "lost himself" in service to others. I feel that Steven's devotion to his job and commitment to the requirements of that job to show that he has risen to a higher level of self-mastery than a normal person. The high level of dignity, self-discipline, and resiliance displayed by Stevens during the conference hosted by Lord Darlington shows, in my opinon, that he has not lost himself in his work but conversely greatly deepened his control over his own mind and person. Knowing that the outcome of the conference could potentially have influence on global affairs, Steven's suppressed his grief over his dead father in order to see that the conference still ran smoothly. Yes, it is true that he suppressed his basic emotional instinct to stop everything he was doing to go grieve his father's passing, but this kind of self-control was executed willingly in order to serve a higher purpose. Which brings me to my next point. How can a man who would ignore his own feelings for the sake of others even be considered as a conceited man? Yes, he spoke often of his own accomplishments in the butlering profession, however I am a firm believer that credit must be given where credit is due. Being a butler, his profession is to serve others and make life easier for them. How can someone who acts like this be construed in any way as a conceited individual? His life is spent serving others for the sake of service. And he does so with the highest levels of devotion and self-control.