The Functions of the Narratee in Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day

Since its publication in 1989, Kazuo Ishiguro’s third novel, The Remains of the Day, has received a great deal of attention. It has been the object of criticism as well as acclaim and even been turned into film. It is the purpose of this essay to explore reader communication and characterisation The Remains of the Day by analysing its narratee, i.e. the receiver of the narrator’s story within the text. This entails the application of a reader response approach on the level of the narrative. More precisely, the investigation focuses on the functions of the narratee in the areas of reader communication and characterisation of the narrator and main character of the novel, Stevens. I argue that the narratee, as an agent of the narrative, has two prominent functions in the novel: the first is as a tool for the author in the characterisation of the narrator of the story, and the second is as a device for achieving communication between author and reader. My thesis is that the narratee is not utilised in a mere supportive capacity in the novel, but as a primary way of achieving reader communication and characterisation of the narrator. Thus, methodologically this investigation is performed in part by reconstructing the narratee, and in part by analysing the communicative situation contained in the narrative. The investigation yields ample evidence to support that the narratee, as a device of the narrative, is utilised as a primary way of achieving reader communication and characterisation of the narrator in the novel. The narratee’s indirect influence in the novel is surprisingly tangible and the narratee is revealed as a major mover of the narrative. In addition to this, the analysis shows that the narrator can also be his own narratee. In this regard Stevens’s role in the narrative is twofold: he is both the narrator, who tells his story, and the narratee, who receives the story. The duality serves to highlight and reconcile the complexities and idiosyncrasies of his conflicted character, as well as make the narrative more accessible to the reader