any sense because, say, the passage of time has shown that Lord Darlington’s efforts were misguided, even foolish? Throughout the years I served him, it was he and he alone who weighed up evidence and judged it best to proceed in the way he did, while I simply confined myself, quite properly, to affairs within my own professional realm. And as far as I am concerned, I carried out my duties to the best of my abilities, indeed to a standard which many may consider "first rate." It is hardly my fault if his lordship’s life and work have turned out today to look, at best, a sad waste—and it is quite illogical that I should feel any regret or shame on my own account.

Summary
At an evening gathering in which Lord Darlington entertains three gentlemen for dinner, Stevens becomes the target of a political point. One of the gentlemen, Mr. Spencer, poses several questions of a political nature to Stevens, who states consistently that he is “unable to be of assistance in this matter.” One does not know if Stevens is truly unable to give an intelligent answer to Mr. Spencer’s questions or if he simply feels it is unsuitable that a servant should present his views to guests of his employers. Either way, Stevens is portrayed as someone who does not deserve to have a say in the nation’s concerns. Mr. Spencer is using Stevens as an example of, what he believes, is the unsuitability of universal suffrage. Despite the discomfort of the situation, Stevens maintains his dignity. In retrospect, however, he believes that his life might have indeed been wasted in serving Lord Darlington, since Lord Darlington revealed himself as a person of poor judgment at best. Still, Stevens insists that his dignity has remained intact, his loyalty is strong if undeserved, and if anyone’s life has been wasted, it is Lord Darlington’s.

Essential Passage 3: Day Six (Evening—Weymouth)

"Since my new employer Mr. Farraday arrived, I’ve tried very hard, very hard indeed, to provide the sort of service I would like him to have. I’ve tried and tried, but whatever I do I find I am far from reaching the standards I once set myself....Goodness knows, I’ve tried and tried, but it’s no use. I’ve given what I had to give. I gave it all to Lord Darlington."

..."Lord Darlington wasn’t a bad man. He wasn’t a bad man at all. And at least he had the privilege of being able to say at the end of his life that he made his own mistakes. His lordship was a courageous man. He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at least. As for myself, I cannot even claim that. You see, I trusted. I trusted his lordship’s wisdom. All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile. I can’t even say I made my own mistakes. Really—one has to ask oneself—what dignity is there in that?"

"Now, look, mate, I’m not sure I follow everything you’re saying. But if you ask me, your attitude’s all wrong, see? Don’t keep looking back all the time, you’re bound to get depressed. And all right, you can’t do your job as well as you used to. But it’s the same for all of us, see? We’ve all got to put our feet up at some point. Look at me. Been happy as a lark since the day I retired. All right, so neither of us are exactly in our first flush of youth, but you’ve got to keep looking forward." And I believe it was then that he said: "You’ve got to enjoy yourself. The evening’s the best part of the day. You’ve done your day’s work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it. That’s how I look at it. Ask anybody, they’ll all tell you. The evening’s the best part of the day."

Summary
Stevens is on his return trip back to Darlington Hall, having failed in his mission either to bring Miss Kenton back to her position of housekeeper or to resume their relationship on a more personal level. In the midst of this failure, he stops his journey and contemplates the fruitlessness of his life. His personal life is non-existent, having been sacrificed for the sake of his career as butler, which in itself has proved to have been misspent in the services of a less than honorable man. He encounters a local gentleman who had also been in service but who is now retired. While Stevens is exchanging his experiences with the gentleman, the failures of his life overcome him, and he at last gives way to his emotions. He feels he cannot go on to be the type of butler he has always wanted to be and which he always felt he was, in his service to Mr. Farraday. He gave all his best years to Lord Darlington, and they were years thrown away. He has no heart left, having had it broken both by Miss Kenton and Lord Darlington. The local gentleman disagrees that Stevens’ life is now over. He points out that for many people, their later years, the “remains of the day,” are the best time of their lives, when all duties are behind them and they can take their ease. He encourages Stevens to do the same.

Analysis of Essential Passages
Stevens, in his role as unreliable narrator of the story, manages to deflect the major issue of the tale until the very end, that of the misplaced loyalty of an employee to a less than honorable employer. Despite his decades-long respect, admiration, and affection for Lord Darlington, Stevens must face the fact of Lord Darlington’s poor judgment in the matter of the Nazi Appeasement episode of the 1930s British political scene prior to World War II.

On the surface, Stevens is defending himself merely in the role of butler, and to what degree he may be considered a “great” butler. He accepts the definition of the Hayes Society (an organization that at one time is said to have exerted considerable influence on the service profession) that a great butler is one who shows dignity in keeping with the profession in service to a distinguished household. Stevens focuses on events in which he may be considered to have shown such dignity, which indeed he has. He has put aside his own personal feelings, both in the pursuit of his duties at the time of the death of his father, as well as the wall he has placed around himself in connection with a relationship with Miss Kenton. His dignity rarely slips, even when he is made the butt of jokes by Lord Darlington’s visitors intent on showing the lunacy of a democracy based on the uneducated and ill-informed citizens that Stevens is characterized by him to be.

It is only gradually that Stevens faces the fact that what is important is not his standing as a great butler but whether he has been in service to a truly distinguished household. Throughout the war, and especially after, Lord Darlington has become an societal outcast for his Nazi appeasement stances. Viewed as a traitor, Lord Darlington sues a newspaper for liable but loses the case. The issue that Stevens must then face is whether his misplaced loyalty to Lord Darlington has made his own life a complete waste. Does his own excellence of service to his employer become worthless if his employer is deemed to have been less than honorable? How much does poor judgment in politics lower a man from a position of honor? Was Lord Darlington worth Stevens spending his life in service to? These are the questions that Stevens must answer in order to proceed on with his life, the “remains of the day,” and to be not just a great butler but an honorable man.