The Remains of the Day (1989) (edit title/settings)

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Characters/People edit see section history

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• Mr. Stevens: A traditional English butler and the narrator of the story. Stevens epitomizes the perfect English butler and is meticulous, proper and always formal and refined. Dedicated in service and in his profession. Nearing the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, he embarks on a country drive in which he begins to reassess his unquestioning service and to a man he describes as "a great gentleman".
• Miss Kenton: Former head housekeeper at Darlington Hall until World War II who is now married and known as Mrs. Benn. Miss Kenton excels at her job, but she is less formal and more personable than Stevens leading to bickering about household affairs though a deep respect remains between them. She is sympathetic towards other members of the staff, including the Jewish housemaids, Ruth and Sarah.
• Lord Darlington: Nobleman and previous owner of Darlington Hall until he passed away. Foolishly pro-Germany. Lord Darlington is a traditional English gentleman with honorable instincts and old-fashioned opinions.
• Mr John Farraday: Easygoing American gentleman and current owner of Darlington Hall and thus employer of Stevens. He is easygoing and often jokes with Stevens who is quite unsure of how to respond.
• William Stevens: A world-class butler and Steven's father who comes to work at Darlington Hall late in his career and advanced in age. Longtime servant at Loughborough House. He and his son only communicate very formally but Steven's holds his fathers work up as an extremely example of what a great butler should be.
• Mr. Reginald Cardinal: Lord Darlington's godson. After Reggie Cardinal's father (Sir David Cardinal) died, Lord Darlington treats him as his son. Cardinal is a journalist, and is mad that the Nazis are taking advantage of Lord Darlington.
• Sir David Cardinal: A close friend of Lord Darlington's, and Reginald Cardinal's father. Believes that German reparations should be halted and that French troops should be removed from the Ruhr valley.
• Herr Ribbentrop: The German Ambassador who uses Lord Darlington to exert Nazi influence on the British during World War II.
• Mr. Lewis: An American gentleman who visited Darlington Hall for the March 1923 conference. He denounces others in attendance as "amateurs" whose instincts are out of date at a time when professional ambassadorship is required.
• Monsieur Dupont: A Frenchman who attends the same March 1923 conference as Mr. Lewis and has a small amount of political influence in his home country.
• Richard Carlisle: Dr. Carlisle is not fooled by all the famous people Stevens has met but correctly guesses that he is a manservant. He gives Stevens a ride back to his car the morning after he stays at the Taylor's house.
• Dr. Meredith: The doctor who treated Stevens' father.
• Sir Oswald Mosley: Frequent guest of Darlington Hall and leader of the British Union of Fascists.
• Mrs. Carolyn Barnet: A member of the British Union of Fascists who influences Lord Darlington to fire his Jewish maids.
• Lady Astor: A Nazi sympathizer who used to visit Darlington Hall. Also a member of the British Union of Fascists ("blackshirt").
• Mr. John Silvers: The industrialist where Stevens' father served 15 years before Darlington Hall.
• Lord Halifax: The Foreign Secretary of Britain during the period culminating in World War II.
• Lloyd George: The Prime Minister of Britain during the end of World War I and the early postwar period. Lord Darlington gathered dignitaries at Darlington hall several months before Mr. George attended a conference in Switzerland to review the Treaty of Versailles in 1923.
• Winston Churchill: The Prime Minister of Britain during World War II. Mr. Churchill was a frequent guest of Darlington Hall before he obtained his power.Was a British politician and statesman known for his leadership during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the great wartime leaders and served as Prime Minister twice.Churchill was also a historian, a writer, and an artist and received the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• George Bernard Shaw: A famous Irish playwright who once dined at Darlington Hall. His famous works include Saint Joan, Heartbreak House, Man and Superman and Pygmalion.
• Mr. Harry Smith: A politician and resident of Moscombe who has dinner at the Taylors' house.
• Mr. & Mrs. Taylor: Owner of a small cottage with an attic that Stevens stays in. Ran the village green grocery from the twenties until their retirement three years ago.
• Mr. Harry Graham: Valet-butler to Sir James Chambers.
• Sir James Chambers: Guest of Darlington Hall.
• Mr. John Donalds: Valet to Mr. Sydney Dickenson.
• Mr. Marshall: Great butler from Charleville House.
• Mrs. Benn: Add a description of this character.
• Mr. David Charles: Of the Charles & Redding Company who visited Darlington Hall from time to time during Lord Darlington's days.
• Mr. & Mrs. Wakefield: An American couple who have been settled in England near Kent for twenty years. They have a number of acquaintances in common with Mr. Farraday from Boston society.
• Mr. Trevor Morgan: Owner of Morgan's farm.
• Mr. Spencer: A guest of Lord Darlington's who asks Steven's rhetorical, weighty questions in the midst of a debate with Lord Darlington and his friends.
• Mr. George Andrews: A friend of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor who stops by to visit when Stevens is there.
• Lisa: Housemaid who replaced the dismissed Jewish employees.
• Mrs. Clements: The only one from the Darlington Hall staff that Stevens could convince to stay at Darlington Hall after Mr. Farraday purchased it.
• Mr. Lane: Great butler who serves at Bridewood.
• Mr. Jones: A pseudonym Stevens uses to describe a gentleman who became inebriated with Mr. Charles.
• Mr. Smith: A pseudonym Stevens uses to describe a gentleman who became inebriated with Mr. Charles.
• Herr Karl-Heinz Bremann: A Friend of Lord Darlington who served in the German army during the great war.
• Mrs. Jane Symons: Frequent visitor to the house before the war. Author of "The Wonder of England" a series of seven volumes about different regions of the British Isles.
• Mr. Lindsay: A rich former resident of Moscombe who "was no gentleman".
• Mrs. Mortimer: The cook at Darlington Hall through much of the twenties and thirties.
• Adolf Hitler: Leader of Germany and instigator of World War II.Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, commonly referred to as the Nazi Party. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state. Hitler is most commonly associated with the rise of fascism in Europe, World War II and the Holocaust.
• Leonard: Stevens' elder brother who was killed during the Southern African War.
• Sir Leonard Gray: A gentleman of indisputable moral stature. Mr. Lane was his butler.
• Ruth: Housemaid who worked on Miss Kenton's staff for six years but was dismissed because she was Jewish.
• Sarah: Housemaid who worked on Miss Kenton's staff for six years but was dismissed because she was Jewish.
• Mr. Wilkinson: Valet-butler to Mr. John Campbell, has a well known repertoire of impersonations of prominent gentlemen.
• Mr. Davidson: Servant from Easterly House.
• German Countess: One of only two women at the March 1923 conference in addition to the formidable Mrs. Eleanor Austin.
• Mrs. Eleanor Austin: One of only two women at the March 1923 conference at Darlington Hall in addition to a German Countess. Resident of Berlin at the time.
• Mr Eden
• M. Dupont
• Mrs Taylor
• Mr Jack Neighbours
• Reginald Mauvis
• Nellie
• Mr Churchill: The Prime Minister of England
• Mr Benn: The husband of Mrs. Benn know in the story by another name.
• Mrs Harry Smith

Quotes edit see section history

• “Embarrassing as these moments were for me, I would not wish to imply that I in any way blame Mr. Farraday, who is in no sense an unkind person; he was, I am sure, merely enjoying the sort of bantering which in the United States, no doubt, is a sign of a good, friendly understanding between employer and employee, indulged in as a kind of affectionate sport. Indeed, to put things into a proper perspective, I should point out that just such bantering on my new employer's part has characterized much of our relationship over these months- though I must confess, I remain rather unsure as to how I should respond.”

  This passage is an excerpt from the Prologue.

• “The English landscape at its finest—such as I saw this morning—possesses a quality that the landscapes of other nations, however more superficially dramatic, inevitably fail to possess. It is, I believe, a quality that will mark out the English landscape to any objective observer as the most deeply satisfying in the world, and this quality is probably best summed up by the term 'greatness.' … And yet what precisely is this greatness? … I would say that it is the very lack of obvious drama or spectacle that sets the beauty of our land apart. What is pertinent is the calmness of that beauty, its sense of restraint. It is as though the land knows of its own beauty, of its own greatness, and feels no need to shout it.”

  This quotation is taken from the section titled: "Day One—Evening / Salisbury."

• “'He was my enemy.' he was saying, 'but he always behaved like a gentleman. We treated each other decently over six months of shelling each other. He was a gentleman doing his job and I bore him no malice. I said to him: "Look here, we're enemies now and I'll fight you with all I've got. But when this wretched business is over, we shan't have to be enemies any more and we'll have a drink together." Wretched thing is, this treaty is making a liar out of me. I mean to say, I told him we wouldn't be enemies once it was all over. But how can I look him in the face and tell him that's turned out to be true?'”

  This passage, from one of Stevens's reminiscences about the past, is presented in the "Day Two—Morning / Salisbury" section.

• “How can one possibly be held to blame in any sense because, say, the passage of time has shown that Lord Darlington's efforts were misguided, even foolish? Throughout the years I served him, it was he and he alone who weighed up evidence and judged it best to proceed in the way he did, while I simply confined myself, quite properly, to affairs within my own professional realm. And as far as I am concerned, I carried out my duties to the best of my abilities, indeed to a standard which many may consider 'first-rate.' It is hardly my fault is his lordship's life and work have turned out today to look, at best, a sad waste-and it is quite illogical that I should feel any regret or shame on my own account.”

  This passage, taken from the very end of the "Day

• “But that doesn't mean to say, of course, there aren't occasions now and then- extremely desolate occasions—when you think to yourself: 'What a terrible mistake I've made with my life.' And you get to thinking about a different life, a better life you might have had. For instance, I get to thinking about a life I may have had with you, Mr. Stevens. And I suppose that's when I get angry about some trivial little thing and leave. But each time I do, I realize before long—my rightful place is with my husband. After all, there's no turning back the clock now. One can't be forever dwelling on what might have been.”

  These words, spoken by Miss Kenton, are taken from the "Day Six—Evening / Weymouth" section of the novel.

• “If I thought there was one modicum of sense in what you are saying, I might bother to engage with you in discussion. As it is, I think I shall simply place my thoughts elsewhere while you chatter away.”

• “By the very nature of a witticism, one is given very little time to assess its various repercussions before one is called to give voice to it, and one gravely risks uttering all manner of unsuitable things if one has not first acquired the necessary skill and experience.”

  Mr. Stevens

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Darlington Hall: Darlington Hall was once the center of the social world. Now that World War II has ended, it has been virtually shut down and no one knows what the future holds.
• England
• Salisbury
• Berlin, East Germany
• United States
• Versailles
• Cornwall

Organizations edit see section history

• Nazi Party: Add a description of this organization.
• Hayes Society
• British Union of Fascists

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Kazuo Ishiguro (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Man Booker Prize (1989)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PR6059.S5 R46
• Dewey: 828'.914

Notes for Parents edit see section history

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Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( I ) › Ishiguro, Kazuo
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary

Movie Connections edit see section history

• The Remains of the Day (1993) (IMDb): Starring Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson and Christopher Reeve

More Books Like This edit see section history