That Unmistakable Feeling

"such as I saw this morning- possesses a quality that the landscapes of other nations, however more superficially dramatic, inevitably fail to possess.  It is, I believe, a quality that will mark out the English landscape to any objective observer as the most deeply satisfying in the world, and this quality is probably best summed up by the term 'greatness'.  For it is true, when I stood on that high ledge this morning and viewed the the land before me, I distinctly felt that rare, yet unmistakable feeling - the feeling that one is in the presence of greatness.  We call this land of ours Great Britain, and there may be those who believe this a somewhat immodest practice.  Yet I would venture that the landscape of our country alone would justify the use of this lofty adjective." (28)

To begin with, The Remains of the Day encompasses the life of a butler named Stevens, but everyone reading this on the blog already knows this.  To begin with, just as an claim, i am making this post like one of an actual blog, addressing you, the reader, periodically throughout it.  Now that that is out, look at the quote one more time, done?  Good!  The literal, Stevens stops on his journey out of the mansion to look at a view that an old man told him to look at, to Stevens' surprise, it was one of the spectacular views he had ever seen, describing it as "greatness".  Well look a little closer, he specifically says that he would fight that Britain itself is Great, hence "Great Britain" in the actual quote.  Now sure when you look at it in the more 'surface' mentality, the he seems slightly conceited, but when you go into the deeper stronger meaning of this whole scenario, then it becomes a little more clear.

Have I lost you?  I sure hope not.  Now take a look at the quote one more time, but read it with a finer mindset, pick it apart piece by piece.  Time to stretch the mind.  The fact that Stevens explains this as that feeling that is distinct, the feeling that one is in the presence of greatness, gives this a deeper meaning of potentially with the talk of "what makes a great butler", then maybe he was the one that was great.  By Stevens seeing this scenery, his mind potentially realized that he lives in this beautiful world, in this beautiful life and the feeling of being in the presence of greatness that was his mind just feeling that he was in his own life's presence.  This, more than likely with many more to come is one of Stevens' life realizations into what his life really is and learning that he truly was the one giving him the "unmistakable feeling- the feeling that one is in the presence of greatness."