The Remains of the Day: Day Three: Morning Summary & Analysis

Stevens is now staying in a cottage inn, where, last night, five or six other customers remained around the bar until late. One of them tried to banter with Stevens, who did his best to respond wittily, and was pleased when the group laughed, though belatedly and bemusedly. He has been trying to add bantering to his professional skills, so as to fulfill Mr. Farraday’s expectations; for instance, he’s been listening to a comic radio show, and whenever an odd moment arises, he tries to test himself by formulating three witticisms in response. So he was a bit disappointed that his attempt at the inn didn’t go over even better; he thinks he’ll just need to practice further.

Stevens now finds himself in a pleasant tearoom in Taunton, though only a few other diners are present. He can see out into the street, where there is a signpost for the village of Mursden: he recognizes this as where the firm Giffen and Co. was located. It used to make the finest silver polish available, before the development of new chemical products just before the war led to the firm’s demise.

During the ‘20s, when Giffen and Co. was thriving, Stevens recalls a change in mood among butlers of his generation. One great butler popularized silver as a public index of a house’s standards; after people began to marvel at his household’s dazzlingly polished silverware, other butlers throughout the country began to copy him. Some, like Mr. Jack Neighbours, made a show out of developing secret methods, but Stevens is certain those had no discernible effect.

Stevens is pleased to recall guests at Darlington Hall marveling at the silver. He recalls in particular Lord Halifax, who began to come to the house to meet with the German ambassador of the time, Herr Ribbentrop, exclaiming at the silver of Darlington Hall. A few days later, Lord Darlington told Stevens that while Halifax was at first in a bad mood that night, his delight at the silver put him into an entirely different mood, and thus possibly, Stevens thinks, may have eased his discussion with Ribbentrop.

Stevens is aware now, of course, of the extent of Herr Ribbentrop’s trickery, as he was part of Hitler’s plan to deceive England for as long as possible. But Stevens finds it frustrating that people talk today as if they were never taken in by Ribbentrop, as if Lord Darlington had been alone. The hypocrisy of these people would be clear if one saw their own guest lists from the 30s, often placing Ribbentrop in a place of honor.

Stevens also finds it hypocritical that people talk as if Lord Darlington were unusual in receiving hospitality from the Nazis in those years; the most respectable ladies and gentlemen in England were doing the same. Stevens insists that the claims of Lord Darlington’s anti-Semitism, or his association with the British Union of Fascists, are entirely unfounded. Darlington came to “abhor” anti-Semitism, Stevens says, and the accusation that he barred Jewish staff from employment was entirely unfounded, except for one minor incident in the thirties, which was blown out of proportion. Sir Oswald Mosley, the leader of the “blackshirts” group of British fascists, only visited a few times before the true nature of the organization was made clear. Darlington was never involved with fringe figures, only inviting to his home those who had real influence in British life—including some who were Jewish.

Stevens knows that some in his profession think it matters little what kind of employer one serves, but these, he thinks, are the most mediocre of butlers. He, on the other hand, takes pride in having practiced his profession at the center of great affairs.

Still, Stevens is aware that he must keep focused on the present—on serving his American employer— especially given the “small errors” that have arisen in the last few months. One occurred at breakfast last April, when Mr. Farraday simply sat down, picked up his fork, examined it, and turned back to his newspaper. Immediately, Stevens replaced the fork, so swiftly that Mr. Farraday was startled and softly said, “Ah, Stevens.” Stevens was deeply embarrassed, though he knows this and other incidents are signs only of a staff shortage: Miss Kenton’s return to Darlington Hall would allow such occurrences to stop immediately. Stevens spent last night unable to sleep, going over in his mind those passages in her letter to him.