A Confined Hermit

Kazuo Ishiguro is well known by The Remains of the Day, winning the Booker Prize in literature, in Britain and abroad. As a British man with dual cultural identities of Japan and Britain, Kazuo Ishiguro describes confusion, changes and salvation by creating the protagonist Mr. Stevens in The Remains of the Day. The author attempts to analyses the confusion of Mr. Stevens and Kazuo Ishiguro from the perspective of post-colonialism, especially developed by Homi Bhabha with the concepts of "identity", "mimicry" and "hybridity", and proceeds to explore the relationship between them. It is revealed that Mr. Stevens and Kazuo Ishiguro are colonized and marginalized, being struggling in the world of dual identities, and the author reaches the conclusion that they realize the salvation through the experiences of trauma.The thesis begins with a review of The Remains of the Day which is analyzed by scholars and experts in China and around the world. The main part respectively introduces representatives of post-colonialism and the development of post-colonial theory. Mr. Stevens-a traveler in confusion and Kazuo Ishiguro-"Otherness" in the Eastern and Western culture are vividly demonstrated through "identity" and "mimicry" developed by Homi Bhabha. The butler image, possessed by Mr. Stevens, reveals the samurai spirit. Kazuo Ishiguro’s complex of dignity reflects his confusion in the Eastern and Western cultures. They are colonized in the pursuit of identity. At the end of the novel, Kazuo Ishiguro makes Mr. Stevens embark his quest for his salvation and it is his inner Japanese quality that expresses the feeling of mono no aware. The journey of trauma for Mr. Stevens is just the psychological reality of Kazuo Ishiguro and both of them acquire the salvation by experiencing trauma. Mr. Stevens tries to adjust himself to adapt to the changes of society. Kazuo Ishiguro exerts all his energies to realize cultural communication in the collision between Eastern culture and Western culture. As an international writer, he discusses the confusion of ordinary persons in dual cultural collision and expresses his opinions towards persons with dual culture.Through the analysis of The Remains of the Day, it is concluded that Mr. Stevens is marginalized and colonized and he is in confusion in the inside and outside of his world. Kazuo Ishiguro, an immigrant minority writer, with double cultures of Japan and Britain has pursued his cultural identity. The Remains of the Day is not autobiographical book but shows Kazuo Ishiguro’s own mental confusion, giving the reference for the writers and immigrants in the different cultures. The trend of cultural conflict and deeper cultural communication is the symbol of convergence of cultural integration and it is demonstrating the Kazuo Ishiguro’s salvation.