The Landscape And Identity In The Remains Of The Day

Kazuo Ishiguro,a famous British-Japanese writer,has drawn increasing attention from readers after winning the 2017 Nobel Prize for literature.His novel The Remains of the Day,which won the Man Booker Prize in 1989,is regarded as the perfect embodiment of the art of language.As a master of memory writing,the novel uses interludes to recall the memories of Stevens’ life during his journey.Beginning with the Darlington Hall and ending with the dark pier,the novel suggests that Stevens could not succeed in establishing a proper identity,and he will be an Empire relic.Based on the previous studies on The Remains of the Day,this paper,by applying the relevant theories of spatial criticism and close reading of the text,probes into the search for Stevens’ identity.This paper is divided into five parts.The theoretical basis,literature review,research purpose and structure of this paper are introduced at the beginning.The first chapter details Stevens’ obedient butler identity in the imperial landscape.As a dedicated butler who works at Darlington Hall for many years,Stevens is loyal to Lord Darlington to complete his career pursuit.After the change of ownership of Darlington Hall,he does not give up the old English butler habit.The second chapter analyzes Stevens’ broken identity in the rural landscape.Stevens is exposed to a different world during the trip and becomes suspicious of his identity after communicating with others.The third chapter explores Stevens’ restrained identity in the personal landscape.After realizing the identity crisis,Stevens finally has the courage to look back to the past.He examines the causes of his improper identity with a peaceful mind,reflects on the imbalance in his emotion.However,he is unable to establish a new identity.He could only return to Darlington Hall as a relic of the empire.The last part is the conclusion of this paper,pointing out that different landscapes have great influences on the shaping of human identity.