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Allusions
Prologue: July 1956
Explanation and Analysis—Foot the Bill:
In the Prologue, when Stevens considers the logistics of driving through England to see Miss Kenton, the reader gets an excellent example of two distinct dialects of the English language. The first is Stevens's narrative voice, which is not only upper-class British in dialect but also precise and formal in tone. The second is Mr. Farraday's American English, which Stevens subtly draws attention to by encasing it in quotation marks when he repeats it.
There were, in any case, various aspects to the matter I felt I needed to clarify to myself before proceeding further. There was, for instance, the question of cost. For even taking into account my employer’s generous offer to ‘foot the bill for the gas’, the costs of such a trip might still come to a surprising amount considering such matters as accommodation, meals, and any small snacks I might partake of on my way.
Farraday uses an idiom—"foot the bill"—to express his willingness to pay for fuel for Stevens's trip. Possibly, this expression came about because English speakers referred to the bottom of a page as a "foot" (think of footnotes), and after adding all the charges on a bill, the sum goes at the bottom—the foot. The person adding up the charges was probably also the person getting ready to pay. Additionally, Farraday refers to the car's fuel as "gas," an Americanism, whereas Stevens and the other Britons in the novel refer to it as "petrol."
Farraday's casual, American English is contrasted against Stevens's formal, upper-class British English. Stevens's manner of speaking is almost incongruently formal considering he's discussing a road trip and the snacks he might buy for it. Some situational irony is generated here between what Stevens is talking about and the fastidious way he speaks of it. Stevens's particular manner of speaking will often seem ironic during the novel given the events he discusses.
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Day One: Evening
Explanation and Analysis—Best View in England:
When Stevens stretches his legs in Day One: Evening, he explores the countryside a little. He runs into a stranger who, with a distinctive British dialect, encourages him to take a footpath up to an outlook:
You got to have a good pair of legs and a good pair of lungs to go up there. Me, I haven’t got neither, so I stay down here. But if I was in better shape, I’d be sitting up there. There’s a nice little spot up there, a bench and everything. And you won’t get a better view anywhere in the whole of England.
As will happen many times later in the book, Stevens gets a tip on how to best view and explore the English landscape from a friendly stranger. This stranger, despite also being British, doesn't sound anything like Stevens. His dialect, with its informal grammar, suggests he is lower class and feels comfortable being casual with Stevens, despite the latter's buttoned-up appearance.
There are a couple of tells that make these lines of dialogue sound distinctly lower-class British: the use of the verb "got," and the double negative ("haven't got neither"), for instance. Smaller informal details, common to all English speakers, include the misuse of the subjunctive tense ("if I was in better shape") and repetition ("up there"). These aren't grammatical norms someone would use while writing an academic paper, but while engaged in an ordinary conversation, they're perfectly normal and appropriate for this stranger. They also put him in contrast to Stevens, who applies a meticulously correct and highly polite style to everything he says and thinks. Although these men might arguably be of the same class, they don't seem that way.
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Day Three: Evening
Explanation and Analysis—My Own Small Way:
In Day Three: Evening, Stevens speaks with the Taylor family and the villagers they invited to meet him, including Harry Smith, a local political organizer. Ishiguro writes Harry Smith's dialogue with lower class British dialect and colloquialisms:
It’s only at a local level, and I never meet anyone half as grand as the likes you associate with, sir, but in my own small way I believe I’m doing my part. The way I see it, England’s a democracy, and we in this village have suffered as much as anyone fighting to keep it that way. […] Some fine young lads from this village gave their lives to give us that privilege, and the way I see it, each one of us here now owes it to them to play our part.
Harry Smith speaks English fluently and correctly, but the reader may notice some differences between the word choices and phrases Smith often employs and those that Stevens uses in both speaking and narration. Part of the reason the villagers mistake Stevens for a member of the aristocracy is because he's cultivated a refined, upper-class dialect and (likely) accent, alongside his suits and his expensive borrowed car. Smith, on the other hand, refers to young men as "lads," calls Stevens "grand," and refers to Stevens's acquaintances as "the likes you associate with." He also uses the phrase "the way I see it" twice. Smith is obviously quite self-assured, but he also might be hedging his opinions in this way because he's overawed by Stevens's presence.
The Remains of the Day features many debates about the merits and drawbacks of democracy. Smith believes in democracy, and he also believes everyday people should have an investment and a say in their government's operation. Keep an eye out for differing perspectives in the novel, including Stevens's own subdued opinions on the issue.
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