This is linked to Englishness. Continentals and Celts do not make good butlers because of their tendency to "run about screaming" at the slightest provocation. Yet it is Stevens's longing for this kind of "greatness" that has wrecked his one chance of finding romantic love. Stevens's greatest defeat is the consequence of his most profound conviction - that his master is working for the good of humanity, and that his own glory lies in serving him.
But Lord Darlington is, and is finally disgraced as, a Nazi collaborator and dupe. Stevens, a cut-price St Peter, denies him at least twice, but feels forever tainted by his master's fall. Darlington, like Stevens, is destroyed by a personal code of ethics. His disapproval of the ungentlemanly harshness towards the Germans of the Treaty of Versailles is what propels him towards his collaborationist doom. Ideals, Ishiguro shows us, can corrupt as thoroughly as cynicism. Sympathetically portrayed with a stiff-upper-lip aplomb that slowly disintegrates, he comes across as more of a fool than a villain, mo re to be pitied than censured.
Ishiguro's novel is less equivocal, its portrait of the British aristocracy's flirtation with Nazism untinged by sentiment. In this matter Stevens is an unreliable narrator, making excuses for his lordship — "Lord Darlington wasn't a bad man.
He wasn't a bad man at all" — but the reader is allowed to see more clearly than the butler, and can't make any such excuse. At least Lord Darlington chose his own path. He succeeded to the title of Duke of Montrose and went to live in Rhodesia now Zimbabwe where he became a staunch white supremacist. Buccleuch was opposed to any war with the Nazis and when it did break out in , he joined the Peace Aims Group and urged a truce based on Germany keeping all the lands Hitler had stolen in Europe.
Even after the bombing started, he continued to defend Hitler. A continuing embarrassment to the King, he was sacked in He regularly visited Germany, met Hitler several times and even stayed with Goering at his hunting lodge. A highly charismatic man , he was deeply impressed by Mussolini and founded the British Union of Fascists. I mentioned, just in the course of conversation, that I was Jewish — at which Lady Mosley went ashen, snapped a crimson nail and left the room.
No explanation was given but she would later write to a friend:. They are a very clever race and come in all shapes and sizes. Symbols All Symbols. Theme Wheel. Everything you need for every book you read. The way the content is organized and presented is seamlessly smooth, innovative, and comprehensive. The owner of Darlington Hall, which has been in his family for hundreds of years, Lord Darlington is described by various characters as a true old gentleman.
After fighting in World War I, Lord Darlington was inspired to get involved in politics and attempt to ease relations between Britain and Germany during the s and s, as the Nazis were growing in power. He finds himself as a result on the wrong side of history, as Stevens only gradually comes to admit to himself.
For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:. Day Two: Morning Quotes. Related Characters: Mr. Stevens speaker , Miss Kenton Mrs.
Benn , Lord Darlington. Related Themes: History, Retrospection and Regret. Page Number and Citation : 60 Cite this Quote. Explanation and Analysis:. Lewis speaker , Lord Darlington. Page Number and Citation : Cite this Quote.
Day Two: Afternoon Quotes. Stevens speaker , Lord Darlington. Day Three: Morning Quotes. Day Three: Evening Quotes. Related Themes: Dignity and Greatness. Day Four: Afternoon Quotes. Reginald Cardinal speaker , Mr. Stevens , Lord Darlington.
Day Six: Evening Quotes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Prologue: July Farraday also planned to hold few large parties and events of the kind that Lord Darlington had often hosted. Stevens worked long and diligently on the staff plan, finally coming up Day Two: Morning.
Characters Lord Darlington. Previous section Miss Kenton. Popular pages: The Remains of the Day. Take a Study Break.
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