Loyalty There Are Different Types

Loyalty

There are different types of loyalty discussed in the Remains of the Day piece. The early part of the story discusses the issue of professional vs. personal loyalty. This situation comes in which Stevens realizes that his father is in failing health and will need to be relieved of most of his duties. Stevens has little dilemma -- his loyalty to his employer outweighs his personal loyalty to his father. The dilemma is eased by the fact that his father occupies the same profession and therefore understands the hierarchy of loyalty by which Stevens must operate.

The loyalty dilemma faced in the reworking of the Versailles Treaty is more complex. The British and the French were Allies in the war against the Germans, but historically have not had any particular loyalty to one another. Indeed in the post-war environment the Germans and British could easily have forged strong loyalties to one another -- which of course could have precluded the rise of the Third Reich. The loyalty that the British felt towards their French allies, however, proved stronger than any potential loyalty that could have developed.

Indeed, it is hinted by Lord Darlington that such allegiances create a dilemma. The English, if left to their own sense of loyalty and honor, would have moved for a less punitive relationship with the Germans in the 1920s. The French, however, proved more punitive. The English then had a loyalty dilemma that balanced their loyalty to the French with their loyalty to their own code of honor. The result of this is that the loyalty to the French won out, as the English were unable to negotiate an acceptable solution.

These two dilemmas intertwine with the conference and the night where Stevens feels he triumphed. While the decision to minimize his father's duties was easy, Stevens was faced with the prospect of working while his father was dying. In this instance, he again placed his professional duties ahead of his personal loyalty. He felt that as a professional, it was reasonable that he carry on his duties while using Ms. Kenton as a surrogate for himself at his father's side.

When these two situations are analyzed together, they illustrate the ways in which loyalties can be different under different circumstances. The French take an entirely different view than do the English with respect to loyalties in the wake of the war. Stevens takes what to most people would be a strange view of loyalty in placing his professional duties ahead of his duties as a son.

For many, the thought of delegating their personal life in lieu of their career seems strange, yet for Stevens it was not only natural but a moment of achievement. Loyalty to the profession is considered paramount in that line of work. Juxtaposed with Lord Darlington's uneasy display of loyalty towards his allies rather than to his friend Herr Bremann, we can see that the sense of professional loyalty was considered an attribute of the highest order at the time, to the point where family loyalties were always secondary.