CHINA, ARTS, Book Review: Why Can't He Speak Out His Love?
By Julia Zhu
When reading Kazuo Ishiguro's "The remains of the day," I simply cannot stop myself from being mad at Stevens: is he a man? How can he be such a jerk who dares not speak out his compassion for the one he loves and even tries everything he can to hide it?
It's really hard for me to understand him. As described in the novel, he pretended not to care about Miss Kenton's constant date though he cared a lot about it; he wished her happy when informed of the news of her marriage though his heart was bleeding; he went away with so-called dignity from her door though he knew behind that door she was crying and deep in his heart he wanted to comfort her; and finally, he again "easily" let all his feeling go without speaking it out for a last gamble when Miss Kenton told him there was no turning back.
Why is he so afraid of exposing his true feelings? There seems to be the infallible reason: he must be honest and dignified for his profession, he must be a good butler.
But what comes of it? It's not only those who he loves deeply going away, but also his own happiness and his precious youth. To keep a so-called dignity with his job and to show his respect and loyalty for his lord Darlington, he left his father, who was seriously ill, to serve the most ignorant guests and even miss the chance to see him for the last time; he felt dignified and happy when Darlington spared a little concern for him though he was mocked and humiliated by his employer's visitors; he cared nothing about Miss Kenton's feelings, wrapping himself tightly for fear that there was something improper; he carried out Darlington's order of firing the two black servants without any further presentation of his own opinion...
Interestingly, when reading the book, I constantly thought of a Chinese TV series I watched at the beginning of this semester: Jin Zhi Yu Nie. In this series, which was set in the Qing Dynasty, there is also a palace servant whose fate is somewhat similar to Stevens. Because of her poor family background, there is scarcely any way for her to get to a higher position. What she wishes for is to wait until the end of the service period and spend the rest of her life with her grandmother. Yet the complicated power struggle among the harems forced her to stay. Even when her Mr. Right appeared and waited for her to leave her position, she stayed first for loyalty to master and then for revenge against her grandmother. The similarity between An Qian (the servant’s name) and Stevens is that both of them dare not to speak out their love for so-called loyalty (The difference is clear though--one is forced to at first, but the other is doing it out of his own will).
My purpose in comparing the two characters is just to show their silliness. Indeed, there are many critical moments in our life, many difficult decisions for us to make, and many hard situations where we have no choice, but the most important thing, as far as I am concerned, is that we should have the courage to pursue our own happiness or at least choose to do things we won't be regretful for in our future life. An Qian died in the end with regret, and clearly Stevens was also woeful for missing the once-in-a-lifetime chance to express himself. I couldn't help asking myself: is what they did worthwhile?
But Stevens is right to say that "one can't be forever dwelling on what might have been and shouldn't keep looking back all the time." Therefore, let's just remember: as our life is short, there is little time for us to hesitate or regret. Whenever, wherever, be proud of yourself to be in possession of the courage to expose your true self and speak out love to the one you love.
When reading Kazuo Ishiguro's "The remains of the day," I simply cannot stop myself from being mad at Stevens: is he a man? How can he be such a jerk who dares not speak out his compassion for the one he loves and even tries everything he can to hide it?
It's really hard for me to understand him. As described in the novel, he pretended not to care about Miss Kenton's constant date though he cared a lot about it; he wished her happy when informed of the news of her marriage though his heart was bleeding; he went away with so-called dignity from her door though he knew behind that door she was crying and deep in his heart he wanted to comfort her; and finally, he again "easily" let all his feeling go without speaking it out for a last gamble when Miss Kenton told him there was no turning back.
Why is he so afraid of exposing his true feelings? There seems to be the infallible reason: he must be honest and dignified for his profession, he must be a good butler.
But what comes of it? It's not only those who he loves deeply going away, but also his own happiness and his precious youth. To keep a so-called dignity with his job and to show his respect and loyalty for his lord Darlington, he left his father, who was seriously ill, to serve the most ignorant guests and even miss the chance to see him for the last time; he felt dignified and happy when Darlington spared a little concern for him though he was mocked and humiliated by his employer's visitors; he cared nothing about Miss Kenton's feelings, wrapping himself tightly for fear that there was something improper; he carried out Darlington's order of firing the two black servants without any further presentation of his own opinion...
Interestingly, when reading the book, I constantly thought of a Chinese TV series I watched at the beginning of this semester: Jin Zhi Yu Nie. In this series, which was set in the Qing Dynasty, there is also a palace servant whose fate is somewhat similar to Stevens. Because of her poor family background, there is scarcely any way for her to get to a higher position. What she wishes for is to wait until the end of the service period and spend the rest of her life with her grandmother. Yet the complicated power struggle among the harems forced her to stay. Even when her Mr. Right appeared and waited for her to leave her position, she stayed first for loyalty to master and then for revenge against her grandmother. The similarity between An Qian (the servant’s name) and Stevens is that both of them dare not to speak out their love for so-called loyalty (The difference is clear though--one is forced to at first, but the other is doing it out of his own will).
My purpose in comparing the two characters is just to show their silliness. Indeed, there are many critical moments in our life, many difficult decisions for us to make, and many hard situations where we have no choice, but the most important thing, as far as I am concerned, is that we should have the courage to pursue our own happiness or at least choose to do things we won't be regretful for in our future life. An Qian died in the end with regret, and clearly Stevens was also woeful for missing the once-in-a-lifetime chance to express himself. I couldn't help asking myself: is what they did worthwhile?
But Stevens is right to say that "one can't be forever dwelling on what might have been and shouldn't keep looking back all the time." Therefore, let's just remember: as our life is short, there is little time for us to hesitate or regret. Whenever, wherever, be proud of yourself to be in possession of the courage to expose your true self and speak out love to the one you love.
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