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Abstract： The Remains of the Day explores the psychological conditioning and life perceptions of a dedicated butler who reminisced about his life segments in a six- day country trip. His stubborn grip of professionalism turns him into a perfectly able servant but a pathetically unable son and lover. In his painful struggle with role switching，the seemingly successful butler identity grow much too powerful as to intrude his other identities，leaving a series of irremediable regrets and failures in human terms.
Key words： The Remains of the Day，professionalism，roles.
Introduction：
Though wrapped up in the most elaborate and elegant English language，the accounts of Mr. Stevens still sound like a tragic song. His tragedy largely results from his poor handling of shift among different roles and identities，from his professional role as a competent butler to other roles as a son and lover.
Dominant role： butler
Mr. Stevens’ identity as a butler is by far his most successful fulfilment among all his life lables. Throughout his account the readers are consistently conscious of this identity in that the professional characteristics have immersed deeply in his flesh and blood. It can be first noticed in the language he used. The narrative style is simple，precise and formal，with every word carefully weighed and selected. The infallibiliy and systematicness used in the narrative are exactly what he applied to fulfilling his duty as a butler（张平，2012）. It revealed his reserved，oppressive personality his own set of standard：“The great butlers are great by virtue of their ability to inhabit their professional role and inhabit to the utmost.” “They wear their professionalism as a decent gentleman will wear his suit.”（Ishiguro Kazuo，1989）Unfortunately，he only stuck too slavishly to the professional ethics that sometimes he either forgot or found it hard to tear it off. It was his lifelong pursuit to provide the top- of- the- best service and be absolute loyal to Lord Darlington，thus he willingly sacrificed his own being to the rigid orders from the master. He kept the practice of "dignity"，what he explained "a butler’s ability not to abandon the professional being he inhabits"，an ideal he unduely obsessed with，from which he drew self- fulfilment and personal victory. But he was void beneath the decent，dignified，respectable appearance. The "butler" identity is too constantly fed and consequently outgrew other identities，forcing them to the affiliated position. Affiliated role 1： son
Doning the mask of an imperturbable butler forever，Mr. Stevens cultivated a habitual manner of denying and suppressing all personal feelings and beliefs. The sad result was a perpetual handicap in communication and emotional expression. He subconsciously forced the “son” role to step down for fear that any private event would get in the way of achieving “greatness” in his career. He refered to his father as “he”，talked to him in a professional tone with no touch of intimacy. He made great efforts in maintaining a colleague relationship with his father，living under the false illusion that it was exactly what his father expected from him，that he was on the way of becoming a“great butler” which his father took pride in. In the guidance of this thought，he rejected any chance of a heart- to- heart talk which his father pleaded for several times by the excuse of being “extremely busy”. Even though he esteemed him dearly，he never conveyed his innermost reverence and love. Nor could he extend his last care and practice of filial piety before his father’s death. “I’m glad you are feeling better” were his repeated words nearest to a personal expression. He chose his duty as a butler in a regular grand dinner over his duty as a son to accompany his dying father to the last minute. Their lack of earnest exchange of thoughts and ideas resulted in a solitary father and a sorry son.
Affiliated role 2： lover
Mr. Stevens made no distinction between his work and private life，rather，he blended them together，leaving a measly amount of time for establishing further relationships with people around him. Apart from an unqualified son，he was also an inept lover. Due to his inability to give or receive love，he missed the only opportunity in his life to taste the sweetness of life，for he let go of Miss Kenton，the former head housekeeper of Darlington Hall. She was his equal in efficiency and intelligence，but she outshone him by displaying more warmth and human dignity Mr. Stevens was never able to forgo his professional suit，thus he never achieved true intimacy with the person he really appreciated. He did see that she was making attempts to use her own warmth，her positive and lively personality to thaw him，an ice as hard as rock. But he chose the habitual manner to refuse，to avoid，taking great care not to reveal any of his real feelings towards her. He summarily rejected her well- meaning intent to introduce flowers into his austere room to try to brighten it up. Over household affairs，he constantly picked her job to uphold his honored decent position in doing everything right，regardless of her feelings. Mr. Stevens still pretended to show composure and feign nonchalance even when he heard Miss Kenton’s crying in her room. He managed to approach her door，but his honor- keeping butler identity prevented him to go further.“I had managed to preserve a ‘dignity in keeping with my position’”（Ishiguro，1989）. He knew how they feel about each other，but he concealed the emotion. He pushed her to another man who she didn’t love. He was cruel to her，but above all，he was most cruel to himself.
Mr. Stevens’s stubborn pursuit of dignity in his professional life completely takes over his life. It cost him the forever loss of his father and his lover. In fact，the roles of butler，son and lover should never come into conflict. There’s nothing wrong about striving for goals like a great butler，but if we give priority to a misunderstood goal while everything else，including friendship，kinship，should make way for it and serve for the sole purpose，then the price is too high to be worthy.
参考文献：
[1] 张平. 论《长日留痕》中的多重反讽与男性气质 [J].北京第二外国语学报，2012，（4）
[2] Ishiguro，Kazuo. The Rem ains of the Day. N ew York：Vintage International，1989.
作者简介：
林博雅（1993- -），女，福建厦门人，英语语言文学学士在读。研究方向：英美文学等。
Key words： The Remains of the Day，professionalism，roles.
Introduction：
Though wrapped up in the most elaborate and elegant English language，the accounts of Mr. Stevens still sound like a tragic song. His tragedy largely results from his poor handling of shift among different roles and identities，from his professional role as a competent butler to other roles as a son and lover.
Dominant role： butler
Mr. Stevens’ identity as a butler is by far his most successful fulfilment among all his life lables. Throughout his account the readers are consistently conscious of this identity in that the professional characteristics have immersed deeply in his flesh and blood. It can be first noticed in the language he used. The narrative style is simple，precise and formal，with every word carefully weighed and selected. The infallibiliy and systematicness used in the narrative are exactly what he applied to fulfilling his duty as a butler（张平，2012）. It revealed his reserved，oppressive personality his own set of standard：“The great butlers are great by virtue of their ability to inhabit their professional role and inhabit to the utmost.” “They wear their professionalism as a decent gentleman will wear his suit.”（Ishiguro Kazuo，1989）Unfortunately，he only stuck too slavishly to the professional ethics that sometimes he either forgot or found it hard to tear it off. It was his lifelong pursuit to provide the top- of- the- best service and be absolute loyal to Lord Darlington，thus he willingly sacrificed his own being to the rigid orders from the master. He kept the practice of "dignity"，what he explained "a butler’s ability not to abandon the professional being he inhabits"，an ideal he unduely obsessed with，from which he drew self- fulfilment and personal victory. But he was void beneath the decent，dignified，respectable appearance. The "butler" identity is too constantly fed and consequently outgrew other identities，forcing them to the affiliated position. Affiliated role 1： son
Doning the mask of an imperturbable butler forever，Mr. Stevens cultivated a habitual manner of denying and suppressing all personal feelings and beliefs. The sad result was a perpetual handicap in communication and emotional expression. He subconsciously forced the “son” role to step down for fear that any private event would get in the way of achieving “greatness” in his career. He refered to his father as “he”，talked to him in a professional tone with no touch of intimacy. He made great efforts in maintaining a colleague relationship with his father，living under the false illusion that it was exactly what his father expected from him，that he was on the way of becoming a“great butler” which his father took pride in. In the guidance of this thought，he rejected any chance of a heart- to- heart talk which his father pleaded for several times by the excuse of being “extremely busy”. Even though he esteemed him dearly，he never conveyed his innermost reverence and love. Nor could he extend his last care and practice of filial piety before his father’s death. “I’m glad you are feeling better” were his repeated words nearest to a personal expression. He chose his duty as a butler in a regular grand dinner over his duty as a son to accompany his dying father to the last minute. Their lack of earnest exchange of thoughts and ideas resulted in a solitary father and a sorry son.
Affiliated role 2： lover
Mr. Stevens made no distinction between his work and private life，rather，he blended them together，leaving a measly amount of time for establishing further relationships with people around him. Apart from an unqualified son，he was also an inept lover. Due to his inability to give or receive love，he missed the only opportunity in his life to taste the sweetness of life，for he let go of Miss Kenton，the former head housekeeper of Darlington Hall. She was his equal in efficiency and intelligence，but she outshone him by displaying more warmth and human dignity Mr. Stevens was never able to forgo his professional suit，thus he never achieved true intimacy with the person he really appreciated. He did see that she was making attempts to use her own warmth，her positive and lively personality to thaw him，an ice as hard as rock. But he chose the habitual manner to refuse，to avoid，taking great care not to reveal any of his real feelings towards her. He summarily rejected her well- meaning intent to introduce flowers into his austere room to try to brighten it up. Over household affairs，he constantly picked her job to uphold his honored decent position in doing everything right，regardless of her feelings. Mr. Stevens still pretended to show composure and feign nonchalance even when he heard Miss Kenton’s crying in her room. He managed to approach her door，but his honor- keeping butler identity prevented him to go further.“I had managed to preserve a ‘dignity in keeping with my position’”（Ishiguro，1989）. He knew how they feel about each other，but he concealed the emotion. He pushed her to another man who she didn’t love. He was cruel to her，but above all，he was most cruel to himself.
Mr. Stevens’s stubborn pursuit of dignity in his professional life completely takes over his life. It cost him the forever loss of his father and his lover. In fact，the roles of butler，son and lover should never come into conflict. There’s nothing wrong about striving for goals like a great butler，but if we give priority to a misunderstood goal while everything else，including friendship，kinship，should make way for it and serve for the sole purpose，then the price is too high to be worthy.
参考文献：
[1] 张平. 论《长日留痕》中的多重反讽与男性气质 [J].北京第二外国语学报，2012，（4）
[2] Ishiguro，Kazuo. The Rem ains of the Day. N ew York：Vintage International，1989.
作者简介：
林博雅（1993- -），女，福建厦门人，英语语言文学学士在读。研究方向：英美文学等。