This story follows the narrator, a butler by the name of Stevens, who travels to visit a friend while reflecting on his time working in Darlington Hall. He talks about and reflects on experiences within the hall, interactions with various people within it, as well as contemplating the idea of what makes a “great” butler.
On major theme throughout the story was the dedication Stevens had towards his work, though it could be considered a lifestyle, as well, due to how invested he is on a larger scale. He holds himself to a much higher level than most and tends to shove everything that’s not considered work to the wayside, either to deal with later or not at all. This especially became prominent when Stevens’s father passed away to a stroke while Stevens was busy severing several guests. Instead of requesting a few minutes to visit his father and mourn, he pushed it all aside and continued to work and wasn’t present when he finally passed.
Another example would be Stevens’s reaction to the request to remove two housekeepers from the staff due to the fact they were of Jewish background. He morally knew the decision was wrong, as did Miss Kenton, who was in charge of housekeeping and explained how hard and efficient employees they were, but still went about firing them. In the end, when their employer realized his mistake several months later, it was to late and the two housekeepers had moved on to other jobs. However, the main factor in this is how Stevens didn’t think to question his employer and the moral part of the decision since he was trained to follow orders and maintain the upkeep of the estate.
This may be me nitpicking points, but it’s interesting how you described Stevens and Miss Kenton as friends. They both had feelings for each other, yes, but the most intimate times they shared were those meetings that they’d have at the end of the day that Stevens inevitably cut off. They had almost an antagonistic relationship with each other, in some regards, and I think that may have been part of the intrigue. It seemed to me that Miss Kenton wanted to try and change Stevens’s mind about certain things, like whenever their employer made them fire the Jewish worker they had on their staff, for instance. For Stevens, it sounded like Miss Kenton was the first person to really argue with him or challenge his authority on the estate, and as frustrating as it was for him it also undeniably caught his attention. Miss Kenton did appear to make much more of an effort, like her attempts to bring flowers to his office to try and liven up the dark atmosphere, or whenever she tried teasing him about the book that he was reading. A real problem with that dynamic though was Stevens’s lack of experience with friendships (or companionship outside of a professional regard for that matter) which caused him to bristle at any attempts to get past his difficult personality.
This was probably a longer tangent than I should have gone onto about something as simple as describing the two of them as friends, but I really do think that the closest that they ever came to being that way with one another was whenever he finally met up with her at the end of the novel. Their meeting, them waiting for the bus, and how he finally seemed to be honest with her and his own feelings struck me as the first really true connection that he had with her.
Excellent points, Kylie. The “friendship” they establish at the novel’s end is built, in a way, on regret. Surely they both recognize by the end the ways in which Stevens was never able to ac knowledge the intimacy and longing between them.