Gregor Schoenfelder

About wasted opportunities in Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day.": Running in Circles Gregor Schoenfelder

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,3, University of Tubingen (English Department), course: Introduction to Literature Studies, language: English, abstract: The narration is primarily about wasted opportunities, about a man who is looking back upon his life and wishes he had acted differently. Through his 'expedition', Mr Stevens is granted the opportunity to rethink his life, identify the mistakes he made and avoid them in the future. The question is whether he uses this opportunity wisely or if he wastes it. Already in the prologue Mr Stevens admits to have "a reluctance to change too many of the old ways", and this will be proven to be all-too true (Ishiguro 7). His behaviour and attitude after the journey which could have been a turning point in his life are by and large not altered after his journey. Mr Stevens is not able to change himself in the important areas, namely his restraint, his extreme professionalism, and the attitude towards his father, although he makes some superficial progress regarding Lord Darlington.