Analyzing The Unreliable Narration And Image On The Remains Of The Day

The Remains of the day is one of the most representative works of Kazuo Ishiguro, which had obtained Booker Prize. Used the recall of Stevens, with flowing narrative style of Proust, combined with the narrating self and the experiencing self dual angle of approach and unreliable narration strategy, this novel shapes the typical image of British butlers successfully, and endows with special aesthetic and artistic charm at the same time. Stevens is the only narrator in The Remains of the day. Based on reading it intensively and combined with the classical narrative theory, the thesis analyzes how Kazuo Ishiguro uses unreliable narration strategy to show the versatility of the character, the inner contradiction and anguish of Stevens, the image of Stevens on England ethnic characteristics so as to structure the image of human’s pursuit of self. This thesis consists of four parts.The introduction part briefly introduces Kazuo Ishiguro’s lifetime, the creation of his novels, the domestic and foreign research situation as well as the research objects of this paper and the research methods.The first part defines unreliable narrator of The Remains of the day. Based on introducing unreliable narration theory briefly. Unreliable narration research methods mainly contain the rhetorical methods and cognitive (construct) methods, and this paper primarily adopts the rhetorical methods. There is only one narrator Stevens and two narrative perspectives that is narrating self and experiencing self in The Remains of the day. Whether it is narrating self s narration or experiencing self’s narration, Stevens isn’t a reliable narrator because he always speaks hesitatingly and secretively. For Stevens’s native, no matter from the empirical ego narrative or from the narrative self perspective judgment, Stevens is an unreliable narrator.The second part analyzes Stevens’ unreliable narration characteristicsin detail, and presents Stevens’image and his character flaws under unreliable narration. Based on the investigation of "dignity", Steven’s narration is around him and his father, Lord Darlington and Miss Kenton.It not only involves the "fact/event","value/judgment" on the axis of the unreliable narration, but also relates to "knowledge/perception" on the axis of the unreliable narration. Kazuo Ishiguro uses unreliable narration strategy skillfully, he presents characteristic defects of Stevens perfectly, such as vanity, hypocrisy, stubbornness and ignorance, etc. And these defects were just the British national characteristics.The third part analyzes the image significance of Stevens. Stevens is a practitioner of British traditional culture, he is also one of the self-lost representatives of modern human. Kazuo Ishiguro believes the figure of Stevens not only expresses the reflection of British culture and ational personality, but also conveys the writer’s close attention to modern human life state, which is a good example of his’international’ creation concept.