SerranoNotes+-+Remains+of+the+Day+-+Quotations

//“Perfectly fine, thank you sir,” had come the reply. “Dinner will be served at the usual time and I am pleased to say there will be no discernible traces left of the recent occurrence by that time”// (Ishiguro p. 36) Stevens’ father repeatedly tells a story about a butler in India who encounters a tiger under a table right before dinner. The butler in India discards of the tiger and says the above quote to his master. It shows the sense of duty the butlers feel to their masters and that the most loyal will go to the greatest extremities to satisfy them and themselves.
 * __Quotations__** –

//“But let me make it immediately clear what I mean by this; what I mean to say is that Miss Kenton’s letters set off a certain chain of ideas to do with professional matters here at Darlington Hall…”// (Ishiguro p. 12) Stevens is clarifying that the letter had no sentimental value to him and that it motivated him to make the trip solely because of his need to make a staff plan. He is trying to avoid giving a hint that he is attracted to Miss Kenton and makes it quite clear that his meetings with her will be professional.

//“Indeed, to put things into a proper perspective, I should point out that just such bantering on my new employer's part has characterized much of our relationship over these months- though I must confess, I remain rather unsure as to how I should respond."// (Ishiguro p.14) Stevens shows that he is not accustomed to bantering and that it makes him awkward. He does not know how to respond to Mr. Farraday’s jokes because of his pompous upbringing. He tries to joke but fails often and never really understands humor throughout the book.

//“He was my enemy.' he was saying, 'but he always behaved like a gentleman. We treated each other decently over six months of shelling each other. He was a gentleman doing his job and I bore him no malice. I said to him: "Look here, we're enemies now and I'll fight you with all I've got. But when this wretched business is over, we don’t have to be enemies any more and we'll have a drink together."// (Ishiguro p. 73//)// Lord Darlington is speaking about his German friend Herr Bremann. He says that the war has forced them to be enemies, yet he has no hard feelings towards the Germans. It indicates Darlington’s inclination to sympathize with the Nazis. He believes that the treaty acts too harshly on the Nazis and he hopes to help them.

//“‘The rest of my life stretches out as an emptiness before me.’ For the most part, though, as I have said, the tone is one of nostalgia.”// (Ishiguro p. 49) Miss Kenton hints to Stevens in her letter that something is missing form her life and Stevens fails to realize, even near the end of the story, that the missing piece is he. He interprets it to mean that she wants to come work at Darlington Hall again.

//“’Lord Darlington wasn’t a bad man. He wasn’t a bad man at all. And at least he had the privilege of being able to say at the end of his life that he had made his own mistakes. His lordship was a courageous man. He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at least. As for myself, I cannot even claim that.’”// Stevens is speaking about his master to an unnamed man. He says that Lord Darlington made decisions, and even though they were not the best decisions, at least he chose to do something and devoted himself to it. Stevens sees his life as incomplete and thinks he has never proven himself in any way. He emotes his regrets about his past.