The Remains of the Day is driven by Stevens’s conception of dignity. Stevens believes a butler’s job is to embody a certain definition of dignity or, at the very least, to strive toward such an ideal. To Stevens, dignity is difficult to define but very palpably felt. Dignity involves complete dedication to one’s profession, rejection of emotional distractions, high professional standards, and respect for discretion and stoicism. Stevens believes a butler should be calm, tactful, respectful, and circumspect, even under a huge amount of pressure. His desire to embody this form of dignity causes him many problems in his life. It prevents him from speaking truthfully to his father, stops him from confessing his love to Miss Kenton, and hinders his understanding that Lord Darlington is being manipulated by the Nazis. The very force that gives Stevens purpose in his life is, by the time the novel takes place, the same force that now compels him to wonder whether he wasted his life. The novel is Stevens’s subtle rumination on whether his long-held conception of dignity is as vapid and worthless as he now fears.

A key element of Stevens’s interpretation of dignity is service.