Friday, April 15, 2011
Symbolism and The Remains of the Day
Mrs Dalloway and Brideshead Revisited were both full of symbols. Do you see any in The Remains of the Day? Remember that symbols can be physical objects (like the pocketknife and clock, or fountain and chapel) or suggested (the thread or web), but characters can also be symbolic. It is also possible to have no symbols in a work of literature. So, can you identify any in Remains? Make sure you explain what those symbols represent. If you don't see any, do you think that matters to the development of the themes in the novel?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
The symbol that really sticks out to me is probably most obvious and seems to be referenced most, natural and unnatural. When Stevens speaking in present day he is typically around nature and beautiful sights. The sights he sees are also very simple but have a great impact on the idea of what should be. When Stevens remembers things it's inbetween the wars and unnatural. They are stuck inside a house for the most part. The conference in particular is speaking of the first world war and war is the unnatural. Within this conference there is also these constant moments where they refer to the "birds and the bees."
I could be way off the mark here, but Stevens himself is a symbol to me. He symbolizes the work ethic of butlers in that particular era. Everything about him is done basically as a show of what he "should" or "should not" be doing because of who he is and how he should be behaving in order to live up to the standards that he has learned.
Comments to Maegan.....
You are right about the natural and unnatural being referred to. I was tickled when Stevens was asked to tell Reg. Cardinal about the birds and bees, this is definitely an indication of how things have changed since that time frame. Also, the majority of the novel does take place indoors and it seems like a breath of fresh air not only for Steven,
but for me as well, when he is enjoying the outdoors.
I also agree with Maegan that the main symbolism is the nature. This seems to be a main theme for all of the novels we have read so far. There is always reference to the nature of things. The birds and bees is definitely an example of the natural order. Without the birds and bees, how would species continue to live on?
I think that the landscape is symbolic, Stevens admires how beautiful the landscape is when he was driving the car. We can see that Stevens applies the same greatness and standards to the landscape as well to himself.
I believe that clothing and flowers are the central symbols within the novel. At the very beginning Stevens is very worried about which clothing he should bring for his trip. He is incredibly careful about his appearance because he knows that he is representing his employer and Darlington Hall. His butler clothing functions as a concealer to cover up the real person beneath that all that butler uniform. He does not change his way of dressing and he keeps his clothing strictly formal and professional. Stevens' clothing ultimately symbolizes his dignity and how serious he takes his job as a butler. Furthermore, Stevens does not appreciate the flowers lying in the pantry, because flowers represent the wonders of nature and beauty, which messes up Stevens’ strict rules and duties. Therefore, what he is doing to himself is not natural and he is pushing away all the natural/human emotions, like his relationship with Miss Keaton. He does not accept the flowers given to him by Miss Keaton, it represents that he does not accept love or anything that has to do with natural thoughts or feelings.
His unnatural way of functioning is similar to the poem, “Naming of Parts”.
To Maegan:
I agree with you that the symbolism is dealing with nature because like I said in my comment, Stevens hates the flowers lying in the pantry, because the flowers symbolizes everything natural, which really interrupts his rules and duties. And his obsession with being a butler is absolutely not natural and he is pushing away all the natural feelings he has deep down, like his relationship with his father and his romantic connection with Miss Keaton. He ultimately does not accept love or anything that has to do with natural thoughts or feelings.
When Stevens is taking his road trip through England, he sees and admires the landscaping. Nature and scenery are the biggest symbols in the book due to the idea that Stevens exaggerates his perception of it. Since he has been cooped up indoors for quite some time, seeing the beautiful landscape kind of shows him for the first time what the idea of “greatness” is. In a way he relates that landscaping to his idea of what a “great” butler is and little speech on dignity. I agree with what Krzysztof said about the reader seeing Steven applying the idea of greatness to himself because clearly, his whole life is all about being the best servant there is and the importance of the butler’s role in society.
Well, I think I should go out on a limb here and say that the English landscape was a huge symbol in the book, as most already said in here. But, I don't think it's the most important. When we read about the letter Miss Kenton wrote to Stevens, after she gets a divorce, recounting the fond memories she had while working in Darlington Hall. One of the things that stuck out in my mind within that whole letter, was her particular memory of Stevens and her watching Stevens' father pacing back and forth where he fell as if "he had hoped to find some precious jewel he had dropped there." After he reads this, he constantly thinks back on it, and uses this memory as a starting point to recap his life and the decisions he made in order to see where he went wrong in his life.
One early symbol is the reference to the schedule. This symbol not only gives insight about Stephens, but it also seems to give a perspective of time and structure within the novel. The same application of scheduling occurs physically in the text as the book is noted like memoir or a diary. The entire story, although jumps into past thoughts, also keeps up with time because of the schedule.
I agree with Krzysztof said that the scenery is also an important symbol. The nature of the landscape also shows the natural order of life. The scenery also plays an important role because Stevens has never explored this beautiful land. He is constantly stuck in this house, and never gets to experience the nature of the land.
Austin, I think you are completely right with the letter thing and I did not even think about it until you mentioned it. The letter really does set up the memories. It also tells us more about how Stevens feels about Miss Kenton and the nature of their relationship. Stevens is very awkward about the letter and reads a great deal into it, just like I imagine him doing when he is actually around Miss Kenton. The bit Stevens tells us about the letter sounds like Miss Kenton, sweet and light hearted, probably trying to drop signals but not wanting to risk getting herself hurt.
Another symbol, I ended up noticing almost right after I posted my first post on here, it seems like the silver polish company, I believe it was called Giffen and Co., anyways that company's factory is closing down and Stevens makes a big reference to this and it appears that the silver polish company going out of business is showing basically that Stevens is literally the last of a dying breed in England and soon, just like the silver polish company, they will be gone soon or that's what it appears to symbolize at least.
Post a Comment