Prose 4 Mah Hose ~~~~< (that is my hose)

"Then she goes on to add: 'If this is a painful memory, forgive me. But I will never forget that time we both watched your father walking back and forth in front of the summerhouse, looking down at the ground as though he hoped to find some precious jewel he had dropped there.'

It is something of a revelation that this memory from over thirty years ago should have remained with Miss Kenton as it has done with me. Indeed, it must have occurred on just one of those summer evenings she mentions, for I can recall distinctly climbing to the second landing and seeing before me a series of orange shafts from the sunset breaking the gloom of the corridor where each bedroom door stood ajar."

(50)

As Stevens discusses the contents of Miss Kenton's somber letter, it becomes apparent the description not only clarifies characterisation of Stevens' former housekeeper, but further pursues Stevens' almost self victimisation of himself throughout the novel. Constantly, Stevens makes himself inferior to his employers and especially his father. It is through describing the letter he receives he becomes a part of the audience, he himself is a reader and immediately demotes himself from protagonist to third party observer, if only for a moment.

Yet, with the tender nostalgia stemming from Miss Kenton's letter, the idea of third party observation extends to both Stevens and Miss Kenton, aligning themselves with the audience to better enhance the relationship from character to character and also character to reader. In their silence, a greater connection to the reader is fostered, in a way one would not expect. Similarly, Miss Kenton's description of Stevens' would be down trodden father exemplifies the opposite portrayal of sadness. Instead of Stevens' father receiving a depression depiction, there is an element of hope in his eyes "looking down at the ground as though he hoped to find some precious jewel he had dropped there." There is no face of regret or giving up entirely, but a keen focus that appears to be searching for an answer, an alternative. It is no wonder Stevens' idolises his father so greatly.