A Profession of Apathy or A Profession Full of Constant Duty?

Page 97
"My father opened his eyes, turned his head a little on the pillow, and looked at me. 'I hope Father is feeling better now,' I said...'Everything in hand downstairs?'...'But is everything in hand?'...Then he said slowly: 'I hope I've been a good father to you.' I laughed a little and said: 'I'm so glad you're feeling better now.' 'I'm proud of you.  A good son. I hope I've been a good father to you. I suppose I haven't.'  'I'm afraid we're extremely busy now, but we can talk again in the morning.' My father was still looking at his hands as though he were faintly irritated by them. 'I'm so glad you're feeling better now,' I said again and took my leave."

          The passage is situated in the evening when Stevens actually has time to go visit and check up on his father. As he walks in he yells at a girl who was following his father's orders to wake him when his son came. It is placed rather awkwardly in the midst of all the hustle-bustle of the house because of the conference that is taking place. Stevens and his father are literally having a semi-conversation in which Stevens' father is expressing his feelings for Stevens and all Stevens can do is to express his joy that his father is feeling better and that he must go downstairs because "the situation is rather volatile". This foreshadows that Stevens' father is accepting of the fact that he may be encountering death shortly.
          Both Stevens and his father are speaking. Stevens' father is expressing his pride in his son while Stevens is being apathetic to the whole situation. This is significant because it conveys that Stevens has completely morphed with his job, trying to be like his father (or what he believes what his father is) and is becoming more and more emotionless to his surroundings.
         The passage conveys expresses Stevens' undying love for his profession. In every situation he asks himself what his father would do and how his father would react. Now, when his father is trying to express emotion, he is unresponsive and indeed, not doing what his father is doing. Stevens is unable to comprehend or react to emotion and he is completely oblivious to the current situation, too worried about what is going on downstairs.