AI Snips
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Episode notes
Butler as Metaphor
- Kazuo Ishiguro created The Remains of the Day inspired by a joke about pretending to be a butler.
- He used the butler as a metaphor for emotional reservation and political detachment.
Stevens: Professional Dignity
- Stevens, the butler, embodies the ideal of professional dignity by subjugating personal feelings.
- Great butlers never lose their composure publicly and only drop their facade in private.
Stevens' Loyalty and Regret
- Stevens' life is defined by loyalty to Lord Darlington despite Darlington's flawed political choices.
- Stevens refuses to question his role until he confronts regret for the first time near the book's end.