On Stevens’ Individuation In The Remains Of The Day From The Perspective Of Jungian Psychology

Kazuo Ishiguro(1954-)is a distinguished Japanese-British writer in the contemporary English Literature,and he was honored with many awards,especially“Nobel Prize for Literature” in 2017.His masterpiece,The Remains of the Day,has been highly praised since its publication.Most scholars at home and abroad concentrate intensively on the researches from the perspectives of narrative strategy,post-colonialism,history and culture,etc.,while few of them interpret the protagonist of the work from psychological perspective.Therefore,this thesis attempts to analyze the protagonist,the British butler Stevens’,trace of psychological changes and his individualized development from overcoming obstacles to achieving self-realization based on Jung’s individuation theory.The Remains of the Day narrates Stevens’ six-day trip to the West of Britain.During this spiritual journey of his memory,Stevens’ trace of psychological changes and his individualized development benefit to each other.Stevens’ individualized development refers to the process that his individual psyche grows into a differentiated,balanced,and harmonious personality.Therefore,the thesis analyzes it according to the psychological system,including the four major archetypes of the personality development.Firstly,the thesis argues that the persona archetype and the shadow archetype are the two major obstacles that prevent Stevens from moving towards individualization.Stevens’ excessive-inflated persona leads him to pursue professional dignity unduly,and to submit to his lord blindly.At the same time,Stevens presents the characteristics of hypocrisy and ruthlessness under the shadow archetype.Secondly,the thesis points out that the progression of Stevens’ individuation is attributed to the awakening of the anima archetype and the acquisition of the self archetype,which help Stevens to reconcile with himself and to present his individuated self.The thesis holds the view that that in the process of individuation,Stevens gradually gets rid of his past self and regains his confidence in life.He changes from self-lost to self-recovery,self-disguise to self-identification,and self-reflection to self-realization,so that his personality gets fully individuated.