Despite the overwhelming evidence against his own misperceptions, :: English Literature

scorn the overwhelming evidence against his own misperceptions,Stevens emerges as a somewhat compassionate character.Wong, 2000 Doyou agree with this assessment of Ishiguros representation ofStevens?Stevens is riddled with misperceptions about his work, hisrelationship with Miss Kenton and Lord Darlington. During the courseof the novel, the reader is shown - not finished what he tells us, butby what he doesnt - the truth behind them, and just how wrong he is.Stevens also realises the reality of his beliefs and his situation,but long after the reader. Despite his mistakes, as he begins to cometo terms with the events of the past, there is a glimmer of hope thathe will change and become a better person. However, he is stilldetached and at the end appears to return to his old, self-deceivingways, escaping the responsibility of his mistakes.One of Stevens misperceptions is the importance of his work. Forexample, at the beginning of the novel, he is obsessed with thetrivial matter of wh at is a great butler? pg 32. For Stevens, thisis a matter of some importance, and shows he considers butlering to bemore than just a job. This point of view is reinforced by the argumentationThe great butlers are great by virtue of their ability to inhabittheir professional role and inhabit it to the utmost they wear theirprofessionalism as a nice gentleman will wear his suit pg 43His job is a way of life, not precisely a means of employment, and he hasan utter devotion to duty, to the intent that he will only discard hissuit when he is completely alone. It is this necessity to keep apublic face that ruins his chance of happiness. He perceives his roleto be more important than it is, believing that he has been given apart to play, however small, on the worlds stage pg 198 and he isalso convinced thatit is not simply my fantasy that the state of the silver had made asmall, but significant contribution towards the easing of relationsbetween Lord Halifax and Herr Ribbentrop that eve ning. pg 144Stevens believes his job to be oftentimes more important than it is, andbecause of this he neglects his relationships with other people.His relationship with his suffer suffers because both are devoted totheir jobs. He admires his fathers abilities as a butler, but asfather and son they have no relationship at allfor some years my father and I had tended to converse less andless even draft exchanges took place in an atmosphere of mutual