We believe that this theme might be the most obvious one since Stevens's way of seeing things, his blindness and his way of refusing to see the reality is perhaps what the novel is mainly about.
Stevens is too occupied with his profession and his obsession of achieving perfection to be able to open up and show his emotional side.
Stevens has a rather biased way of looking at the world. He tends to look at it from only one or very few perspectives. This may be due to the fact that Stevens has a limited variation of experiences in his life. The larger part of his life has been commited to his blind dream of becoming what he describes as the 'perfect butler'. He aims at obtaining true dignity, a quality that he believes distinguishes a great butler from an ordinary butler. This has a crucial effect on his life, as it makes Stevens completely ignorant and unattentive to his personal life and self. He represses his own emotions, and fails to see the intentions and feelings of others. Stevens has developed a blindness towards these aspects of life.
He refuses to acknowledge Miss Kenton's feelings for him, thus he behaves in a more cold and reserved manner towards her in order to hide his true feelings. He does not allow himself to care for someone else since he believes that by allowing that sort of feelings, he may jeopardize his position as a professional butler.
To some extent, Stevens tends to see what he wants to see. An example of this is his relationship with his former employer Lord Darlington; it is hard for him to see the real Lord Darlington and all the negative critisism facing him. He is not the flawless and great gentleman that only Stevens sees, but rather a man who is being manipulated and mislead by the Germans and who has some views and values one would normally disagree with. At some level, Stevens is aware of these flaws but in order to stay loyal to his employer he decides to ignore and not acknowledge them.
Another example of Stevens blindness is when his father is dying. Stevens's blind ambition to be the perfect butler is in the way for him to actually mourn his father. He chooses to ignore the fact that his father is dying and continues to serve the people as if nothing has happened in order to preserve his dignity as a butler.
Stevens is however able to spot things that might slip others attention. He has an ability of seeing details and remember occurences in great detail. However, what he tends to lay his attention on might seem like insignificant trivialities, compared to the essential parts of his enviroment he fails to see. Since Stevens has always been focused on doing a good job, that it also the place where he has learned and developed appropriate skills. He is a very distinguished butler but this has caused him other things, for example his personal life.
Throughout the years, Stevens obsession of becoming the perfect butler has resulted in a lack of identity. He is barely nothing more than the profession he practises. It is interesting to see how Stevens starts to think and question himself, his own ideals and behavior, during the trip. During decades of hard and dedicated work, he does not seem to have been off duty for more than a couple of days in a row. The trip gives him an opportunity and a necessity to focus on his private self and reflect upon his own life, free from the stress and pressure of work.
Mollie, Julia and Martina.
Stevens is too occupied with his profession and his obsession of achieving perfection to be able to open up and show his emotional side.
Stevens has a rather biased way of looking at the world. He tends to look at it from only one or very few perspectives. This may be due to the fact that Stevens has a limited variation of experiences in his life. The larger part of his life has been commited to his blind dream of becoming what he describes as the 'perfect butler'. He aims at obtaining true dignity, a quality that he believes distinguishes a great butler from an ordinary butler. This has a crucial effect on his life, as it makes Stevens completely ignorant and unattentive to his personal life and self. He represses his own emotions, and fails to see the intentions and feelings of others. Stevens has developed a blindness towards these aspects of life.
He refuses to acknowledge Miss Kenton's feelings for him, thus he behaves in a more cold and reserved manner towards her in order to hide his true feelings. He does not allow himself to care for someone else since he believes that by allowing that sort of feelings, he may jeopardize his position as a professional butler.
To some extent, Stevens tends to see what he wants to see. An example of this is his relationship with his former employer Lord Darlington; it is hard for him to see the real Lord Darlington and all the negative critisism facing him. He is not the flawless and great gentleman that only Stevens sees, but rather a man who is being manipulated and mislead by the Germans and who has some views and values one would normally disagree with. At some level, Stevens is aware of these flaws but in order to stay loyal to his employer he decides to ignore and not acknowledge them.
Another example of Stevens blindness is when his father is dying. Stevens's blind ambition to be the perfect butler is in the way for him to actually mourn his father. He chooses to ignore the fact that his father is dying and continues to serve the people as if nothing has happened in order to preserve his dignity as a butler.
Stevens is however able to spot things that might slip others attention. He has an ability of seeing details and remember occurences in great detail. However, what he tends to lay his attention on might seem like insignificant trivialities, compared to the essential parts of his enviroment he fails to see. Since Stevens has always been focused on doing a good job, that it also the place where he has learned and developed appropriate skills. He is a very distinguished butler but this has caused him other things, for example his personal life.
Throughout the years, Stevens obsession of becoming the perfect butler has resulted in a lack of identity. He is barely nothing more than the profession he practises. It is interesting to see how Stevens starts to think and question himself, his own ideals and behavior, during the trip. During decades of hard and dedicated work, he does not seem to have been off duty for more than a couple of days in a row. The trip gives him an opportunity and a necessity to focus on his private self and reflect upon his own life, free from the stress and pressure of work.
Mollie, Julia and Martina.
1 comment:
Damn we're goooood!
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