Marxist Reading on Class, culture and Identity in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day

Abstract

The world is filled with people who always wanted to live their life in-order to please the society and at the end they regret and feel sad for what they have lost, likewise this paper explores a Marxist perspectivity on Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day (1989), which examines how the protagonist, Mr. Stevens, becomes an emblem of false consciousness and ideological subjugation within the firm British class society. With the use of Karl Marx’s concepts that speaks about the struggle in the society and alienation of individuals. The novel The Remains of the Day is analysed as a critique of how the working class people suffer from the elite people to enjoy their power. The protagonist Stevens’s loyalty towards his master Lord Darlington and his aim of attaining Dignity are shown as a mask which Stevens wears to hide his emotions. The paper also explores how the social structure of Darlington Hall reflects the class struggle and dominance.