English Literature

Running head : COMPARISON OF JOURNEY

Comparison of Journey in Graham Swift 's Last s and

Kazuo Ishiguro 's Remains of the Day

MACROBUTTON NoMacro [Insert Names of Author (s ) here]

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OUTLINE

Introduction

Journey : A Brief Background on the Novels

A . Last s

B . Remains of the Day

III . Themes of Journey in the Novels

Friendship

Love

Secrets

Lies

Animosities

IV . Describing the Novels

Narrative Structures

Context

Alternative Views

V . What Might Have Been p

Comparison of Journey in Graham Swift 's Last s and

Kazuo Ishiguro 's Remains of the Day

Introduction

.real optimism only comes when you 've looked into the darkness '- Graham Swift

The aforementioned line was taken from an interview with Graham Swift posted in the BookPage website . Although the interview was done for his novel , Ever After , this philosophy is rendered in his novel , Last s . In much the same way , however surprising , this philosophy also applies to Kazuo Ishiguro 's novel , Remains of the Day

A careful analysis of the two novels reveals their similarities and differences . Although the two novels were created by different authors they both focused on the same main theme : the final moments when characters have `looked into the darkness ' This is already evident in the novels ' titles . In the Last s , the final moments were when the characters revealed their last s (or wishes , particularly Jack Dodds , while in the Remains of the Day , the final moments refer to the time when Stevens pondered about the past and realized what he has to do with the `remains of [his] day ' Both novels have reference to `evening (or darkness ) which is a symbol of old age and time for reflection

Aside from the main theme , several other themes can also be found in both novels . The journey in either novel revolves in numerous themes These themes include friendship , love , secrets , lies and animosities The authors were successful in integrating these themes in their stories making them rich in meanings and share extra-ordinary experiences

The novels also share both historical and literary contexts . They also touched some philosophical ideas such as Marxism , Feminism , and Structuralism . There may be some differences in terms of style and narrative structures but both novels had great importance in the development and progress of contemporary English writing , particularly in writing fiction novels . The fact that they both won the Booker Prize proves this claim

Journey : A Brief Background on the Novels

Last s and Remains of the Day are fiction stories about the journeys of different people who have `looked into the darkness ' and pondered on `what might have been ' if they chose to do what they should have done at times they were given the chance to choose

Last s

The main event in this novel is the fulfillment of Jack Dodds ' last s . Jack was a family butcher and died of cancer . While he was still alive , he left instructions to the people who were close to him...