A disgraced man dignified

"Of course, it is not for me to suggest that I am worthy of ever being placed alongside the likes of the 'great' butlers of our generation, such as Mr Marshall or Mr Lane - though it should be said there are those who, perhaps out of misguided generosity, tend to do just this. Let me make clear that when I say the conference of 1923, and that night in particular, constituted a turning point in my professional development, I am speaking very much in terms of my own more humble standards. Even so, if you consider the delude myself unduly if I go so far as to suggest that I did perhaps display, in the face of everything, at least in some modest degree a 'dignity' worthy of someone like Mr Marshall - or come to that, my father. Indeed, why should I deny it? For all its sad associations, whenever I recall that evening today, I find I do so with a large sense of triumph."

Stevens indirectly says that he wants to be known that what he did had justifications for his actions and that he shouldn't feel regret for what he has done. However, this contrast in how he should feel and how he feels is shown when he serves wine to the guests at the dinner party, because even Lord Darlington realizes that Stevens looks as if he has been crying, and Stevens does not inform the reader that he has shown any emotion until this point in time, and even then, he has to do so through another character. This characterization through another character informs the reader that the protagonist Stevens does not want to reveal much about himself, but the reader must learn from other characters.

Moreover, it is hard to trust Stevens in the novel now. Stevens has moments in the book where he will say how disgusted he is with certain aspects of the butler world, but then he goes to discredit his previous statement by saying that some parts do have some justification. Stevens says that he does not think that the Hayes Society has done anything correctly in choosing the greatest of butlers of his generation, so he does not believe that Mr Marshall and Mr Lane are great, but then later in the chapter, while re-evaluating them, he decides that they have done great things, but this seems contradictory, because how can a person that did great things not be great themselves? This relates back to the passage, because Stevens says that he has done nothing great, but he says that he might even be considered to be as dignified as his father, but earlier in the chapter, Stevens tells Miss Kenton that his father is great, just not directly. This shows that Stevens may actually consider himself great, but he does not want to say this, because then the reader would not believe anything else he has to say, because he would be appraising his own talents. However, Stevens is again a professional and he does so anyways in the most discreet of ways.