‘Why, Mr Stevens, why, why, why do you always have to pretend?’ What answers to Miss Kenton’s question does the novel suggest?

... 'Why, Mr Stevens, why, why, why do you always have to pretend?' What answers to Miss Kenton's question does the novel suggest? In assessing the answers Ishiguro' novel makes to Miss Kenton's question, it is important to emphasise that Stevens' constant pretending really describes an inability on his part to display his true emotions. For Stevens, maintaining his role in costume is more than a choice, but a disguise he is verbally lost without. It is then more precisely the reasons for Stevens' obsession with professionalism that concerns us. Such devotion inevitably infringes upon the man's personal life, transforming him into an emotionally reserved individual. Confrontation frightens Stevens who finds it very difficult to connect with the feelings of others. His ineptitude in the field of friendly 'banter' is at times almost laughable, for he is so used to communicating in the means with which he is most

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