Remains of Day; Steven's Journey of Doubt

9/27/04 Per. 1 Stevens's Flashbacks: A Journey of Doubt Often, when one realizes a belief or an ideal they have been so ardently following is a farce, one tries to deny this by reliving and glorifying their past, to assert the belief. This can be clearly seen in Ishiguro's novel, The Remains of the Day, through the protagonist Stevens. Stevens believes in an outdated definition of dignity, passed down to him by his father. It stresses professionalism …

…and regret. His glorified accounts of dignity no longer held true, and as the journey to Miss Kenton progressed, so too did his feelings intensify. As days progressed, Stevens was no longer recounting flashbacks, but convincing himself that he had exemplified dignity. Stevens begins to see the truth, until he finally admits at the end of the journey, that his life, had indeed been full of wrong choices and blind trust; truly an undignified life.