石黑一雄的小说《长日留痕》回忆与现实的交汇(2)
The Remains of the Day is written in the form of travel notes. It tells the tragic story of Stevens, an English butler devoting all his life to an English gentleman, Lord Darlington, who performed actively before the Second World War. At the beginning of this novel, Stevens receives a letter from his former colleague, Miss Kenton, who at present is called Mrs. Benn but seems unhappy about her marriage life. As he has the time to take a rest with the approval of his present master, Mr. Farraday, Stevens decided to drive to the west part of England where Mrs.Benn lives at present and seek out whether she would like to come back to Darlington Hall thus they could work together again. During his journey, Stevens has the opportunity to reflect on his loyalty to Lord Darlington, on the meaning of the most important element for a “great” butler - "dignity", and even on his relationship as well as his affection with his
own late father and Miss Kenton. During the process of the journey, increasing evidence of Lord Darlington’s political mistake before the war and the affection between Stevens and Miss Kenton, is revealed through Stevens’s record of the past.
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