A Study On The Remains Of The Day From The Perspective Of Existentialism

Kazuo Ishiguro, the Japanese-born novelist, is one of the foremost writers in thecontemporary British literature. He has published six novels up to date, among whichThe Remains of the Day is the most important one, winning the Booker Prize of1989.Since its publication, an amount of research on the work has been conducted fromdifferent perspectives, ranging from postcolonial interpretation, narratologicalanalysis, historical reading, cultural study to thematic exploration. However, most ofthe previous study fails to take the meaning of the protagonist’s existence intoconsideration. So there is still much room to do a further study on this novel.Based upon a close reading of the text and the previous study of The Remains ofthe Day, this thesis attempts to interpret it from the perspective of existentialism. Byexerting the concepts of absurdity, alienation and bad faith in existentialism, the thesiswill explore the existential characteristics embodied in Stevens and quest for theprocess of Stevens’ pursuit of his authentic existence. The protagonist, Stevens,sacrifices all of himself to pursue the dignity for becoming a great butler. However,under an absurd social background, his understanding of dignity is distorted. Heestablishes his entire existence on professionalism without any room left for his ownprivate life, which brings about his alienated relations with his father, Miss Kentonand Lord Darlington. After Darlington’s fall, he tries to maintain his dignity by badfaith. Finally, guided by different people he encounters during his journey, Stevensdetermines to confront the reality and make use of the remains of his life to live inauthenticity. As there are limited studies on the work, this thesis is hoped to be ofsome help in this field.