The distinction in the novel made about butlers by Stevens falls into two types. One has to do with that which believes in what Stevens calls “idealism”, that suggests that “butlers should aspire to serve those great gentlemen who further the cause of humanity”; the other has to with that which rejects such idealism as “just high-flown talk with no grounding reality” (Ishiguro, 1989, p. 101). The struggle between the two, idealism and realism, is part and parcel of the novel. Perhaps the novel demonstrated the failure of the idealism of such figures as Lord Darlington and Stevens both of whom thought they were trying to serve humanity. For instance, Stevens’ thought at the end of the narrative that he should try and learn the art of bantering perhaps illustrates his transformation from the idealism of his generation to the realism of the new world order occasioned by the arrival of his new master, Mr Faraday of America.