From Senescence to Self-Renewal: Narrative of Gerontology and Journey in Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day

Abstract

Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day prominently engages with themes of senescence and illness, yet gerontological perspectives remain underutilized in existing scholarship. This paper addresses this oversight by analyzing the aging process and physical deterioration as embodied by Stevens, his father, and Miss Kenton. The protagonist’s confrontation with advancing age and diminishing faculties mirroring his father’s decline, provoking profound existential distress regarding his own mortality. Lord Darlington’s self-inflicted death, precipitated by diminished social standing, further intensifies Stevens’ existential anxiety and uncertainty about life’s meaning. His subsequent travels facilitate an introspective reckoning, culminating in personal insight and psychological renewal – a narrative arc that positions the work within the Reifungsroman framework of late-life development. Employing literary gerontology as an analytical lens, this article interrogates Ishiguro’s nuanced depiction of aging, countering reductive decline paradigms, reconceptualizing later life as a period of contemplative growth and renewed self-discovery, thereby enriching gerontological discussions about meaning-making in advanced age, offering a nuanced perspective on its complexities and potential. By doing so, this article contributes to gerontological discourse, highlighting the possibilities for meaning and purpose in later life.

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