The remains of the day is a book about an aging butler. To me it has three themes.
The first theme is that of how we use our time. In a somewhat similar way to Paul Auster's mystery novels, this book goes into the idea that a butler is really giving away his best years simply in order to fulfill the lives of their employers. Their lives in themselves have little meaning. This also relates the idea of democracy
put forward in the book, which is in some ways said to be an outmoded tool since the populace doesn't follow politics. I wonder with this book if the author doesn't like the butler. That he is in fact setting him up as a negative stereotype as a warning to others. I am not sure because this may be my will being forced on that of the author. Some of his opinions I find myself hoping to be satirical in nature. This puts an interesting perspective on the value of a human being in either case.
The second theme ties in greatly to the first. This is the theme of romance and of putting on airs. The butler in question is of the opinion that he must always have the air of dignity about him or else he doesn't reach his aspirations of great butlerness. This is an exaggeration of the British concept of propriety that seems more and more silly to us nowadays. It is because he is unwilling to break down and be the human he is at heart, that he loses the love of his life and really a great amount of the potential he had. He may have had modest achievements as a gentleman's gentleman but he barely has a happy life.
The third theme I see is that of war. This is probably the most obvious but nevertheless important, you book snobs. Its an interesting look into how politics are rarely confined to the house of commons and are, in fact, often situated in the houses of the rich and influential. These somewhat despotic power plays are seen in the novel as limiting of the British political possibilities as it keeps the power in the hands of few and doesn't allow for a failsafe. In this case, certain events during the second world war are shown as preventable and unfortunate.
Quite an interesting novel, at least four notches above what the "British" are writing about themselves.
5 yes sirs out of 7
Andrew
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