The Twilight Melancholy

Kazuo Ishiguro, Japanese-born novelist, is one of the top-ranking writers of post-war Britain. Since 1982 he has published six novels (A Pale View of Hills, Artists of the Floating World, The Remains of the Day, The Unconsoled, When We Were Orphans and Never Let me Go), and all of them have won international acclaim. Many critics have been intrigued by Ishiguro's ethical identity and his distinguished writing style.Ishiguro's writings are characterized by their concerns on individuals scanning their past in a historical background. The Remains of the Day, which this study is devoted to explore, also deals with an individual's tragedy interwoven with the eclipse of British Empire. Until now the novel has been studied from many perspectives, such as narrative analysis, post-colonial reading and psychological exploration. As for the thematic study of the novel, critics have dealt with the theme of trauma, nostalgia, loss of identity and so on. However, there is another prevailing theme in the novel which has been scarcely touched upon--crisis. Based upon a close reading of the text and a relatively extensive study on different interpretations of The Remains of the Day, the author of this thesis intends to explore the various crises revealed in the fiction, including the protagonist Stevens's identity crisis, belief crisis and the national crisis hanging over British Empire.Set in post-war England,The Remains of the Day tells the story of an English butler named Stevens confronting disillusionment as he recalls his life devoted to serving Lord Darlington. For keeping as a great butler, Stevens has lost his personal freedom; for striving to be professional, he develops a misplaced need to repress all his emotions. He has sacrificed himself to his profession. Stevens has a strong belief in what he calls"honor"and"dignity"; and he enjoys the triumph feeling of making his mark on this world through being attached to his master, yet he has sown his seeds of hope on the false ground--Lord Darlington turns out to be a political pawn used by Nazis, and Stevens's ideal of serving humanity through serving this great man goes into bubbles.Meanwhile, the historical context of the fiction also suggests that British Empire has come to a critical stage in its developing course. With a number of colonies running out its house after the Second World War, Britain has gradually lost its global power; it has been severely challenged in political arena as well as in cultural influence. The intersections of individual tragedy and national crisis shroud the whole story with a melancholy sense.