The Remains of the Day

by

Kazuo Ishiguro

An old friend of Stevens and a fellow butler, who appears only in Stevens’s reminiscences. Mr. Graham believes, unlike Stevens, that dignity is something one cannot hope to define; they have a number of lively discussions about this aspect of their profession. The fact that, as Stevens repeats several times, he seems to have lost touch with Mr. Graham underlines the dwindling nature of the profession after the war.
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Mr. Graham Character Timeline in The Remains of the Day

The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Graham appears in The Remains of the Day. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue: July 1956
History, Retrospection and Regret Theme Icon
Class Difference and Social Change Theme Icon
...James Chambers would be visiting Darlington Hall, and he looked forward to seeing Chambers’s butler, Mr. Graham , whose company he always enjoyed. But Chambers arrived alone, and Stevens learned, disappointed, that... (full context)
Day One: Evening
Dignity and Greatness  Theme Icon
Class Difference and Social Change Theme Icon
Authenticity, Performance, and Self-Deception Theme Icon
...on everyone’s lips for awhile, before one trend yielded to another. Still, other servants, like Mr. Graham , never stooped to such gossip. (full context)
Dignity and Greatness  Theme Icon
Class Difference and Social Change Theme Icon
Nonetheless, the question then arises of what dignity entails. Mr. Graham always viewed dignity as something like a woman’s beauty—impossible to analyze—while Stevens objected that one... (full context)
Dignity and Greatness  Theme Icon
Authenticity, Performance, and Self-Deception Theme Icon
...true butlers only exist in England, as other races are incapable of such emotional restraint. Mr. Graham might counter that a great butler could thus only be identified through a severe test,... (full context)
Day Three: Evening
Dignity and Greatness  Theme Icon
Authenticity, Performance, and Self-Deception Theme Icon
...the morning and not returning home until late. Stevens became a little worried, especially after Mr. Graham mentioned that he’d been wondering how long it would be before Miss Kenton found a... (full context)