Lord Darlington: A Shameful Professional Life

To begin, another example in the book when Stevens regrets his past is when he regrets living a completely professional life in order to please Lord Darlington. Lord Darlington was regarded as a "Nazi sympathizer." This is because he tried to create peace between the head of British and the head of the Germans but he didn't realize that the Germany was using him to weaken Britain. Lord Darlington was also a hater of all Jewish people. Due to this mistake, Lord Darlington was seen as a traitor and he became very sad because of his reputation which ultimately led to his death. When Lord Darlington asks Stevens if they have any Jewish staff at the Hall, Stevens says yes, then Lord Darlington responds with, "We cannot have Jews on the staff here
Stevens feels regret over the fact that Lord Darlington was able to make his own mistakes but Stevens cannot say the same for himself because he committed his life to following Lord Darlington's every order which included firing the Jewish house workers. Stevens spent most of his life making the same mistakes as Lord Darlington. Stevens lives his life in a lie having served Lord Darlington because he uses his dignity to serve a shameful man. Furthermore Stevens represses his emotions so much that he is unable to be by his father's side while he is dying because he is busy serving guests at a conference being held at Darlington Hall, "Will you come up and see him? I'm very busy just now, Miss Kenton. In a little while perhaps"(131). He left his father's side to please Lord Darlington and finish his duty as a butler. Moreover, Stevens lost all possibilities of romance with Miss Kenton because he was busy attending to one of Lord Darlington's conferences yet
He explains that he thought there was dignity in being professional, but he regrets this mindset because now he realizes that he lived his life serving a man who is regarded as a political traitor. He regrets not following his own morals and beliefs, he spent his life following Lord Darlington. Stevens now sees his lifelong dignity as a sham, because his role as a butler left him with nothing at the end. He regrets missing his father's death and he lost his chance at romance with Miss Kenton all because he thought that there was dignity in being a good butler who is not shaken by external events. Now Stevens realizes that he made a big mistake and he shouldn't have been so meticulous on serving Lord Darlington in the most professional manner. Now he is only and he can only look forward to the remains of his days and try to live his life to the