ad: he has completely trusted a man who we now know has made very stupid decisions. This realization gives us further confirmation that Stevens himself is not really reliable. Indeed, we must depend upon other characters in the novel to deliver accurate insights about other characters and events.
At one point in the novel, Stevens and Miss Kenton see Steven's father searching near the steps he fell on "as though he were searching for a precious jewel he had dropped there." How is this image symbolic of the novel's concerns as a whole?
In a sense, Stevens's entire journey is a search for the precious jewel he has lost—Miss Kenton. When Stevens's father falls on the steps, he insists he fell because they were crooked, not due to any fault on his own part. After his fall, he is bewildered, and peruses the steps as if searching for a clear indication of how he made such a grave mistake. Stevens's father, like Stevens himself, cannot admit to, or even recognize, his own human fallibility. In Stevens's recollections of his interactions with Miss Kenton, he is constantly searching for where he figuratively "fell" from her good graces. Like his father, his eyes are trained on the landscape of his past; his father's fall demonstrates his own descent into self-deception and eventual regret. Both men's mistakes unrelentingly haunt them.
How are Stevens and Miss Kenton similar? How are they different?
Both Stevens and Miss Kenton are extremely committed to their work. However, Miss Kenton eventually decides that there are other things in life that are worth striving to attain, like getting married and having a family. The thought of these alternate goals never appears to enter Stevens's head; if it does, he never tells us. There is a moment in the novel when Miss Kenton says that Stevens has comfortably reached the top of his profession, and asks him what more he could want from life. Miss Kenton seems to be trying to unearth any personal goals that Stevens may have. Stevens, however, merely responds that until Lord Darlington achieves all that he can, he himself will never be perfectly contented. This exchange perfectly illustrates how Stevens differs from Miss Kenton: she does not substitute her professional life for her personal, while he does, to the utmost.
Compare and contrast Stevens and his father. Do they hold the same ideals?
Why is it important that Stevens is a butler, and not a lord or a duke of some kind? How does his profession shape his life? With what result?
Does the narrative ultimately condemn Stevens for the choices he has made? Is the ending hopeful?
Why is it significant that during Stevens's "best years of service" occur while World War II is going on?
Trace Stevens's use of pronouns throughout the novel. What does his use of "I" versus "one" indicate?
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