| The purpose of this thesis is to trace the protagonist’s mental development and the formation of self-consciousness in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day in time and space duration by combining M. M. Bakhtin’s theory on Buildungsroman and Henri Bergson’s philosophies on space and time. Firstly, the thesis tries to find out the common points of these two scholars. Based on their common ground of philosophy and literary theory, this thesis is going to analyze the process of the growing up of the protagonist during his visit to Cornwall. Travel is an action which combines the two elements--- time and space, forming the basic frame of the whole story. Under this dynamic frame, this paper explores the contradictory points of Stevens in travel and the recall of the past. By analyzing these different points, the change of the mind on the part of Stevens is clearly presented. In the end, the thesis comes to the conclusion: the protagonist gets rid of the burdened history; instead of being tortured by the past, Stevens learns to face the history frankly and gets a clear vision, choosing to welcome the future and cherishing the rest of days. |
