One of Stevens’ main aims which will contribute to his position as a “great butler” is to serve a distinguished gentleman in a great house. As far as Stevens is concerned, Lord Darlington fills this position aptly. While Stevens believes that Lord Darlington is an honourable gentleman who any butler would be proud to serve he was in fact labelled a Nazi sympathizer and a traitor, which ruins his reputation and leaves him a broken and disillusioned old man at his death. While this is the line that the newspapers at the time take to destroy Darlington’s name he is an old- fashioned English gentleman who feels regret and guilt about the harshness of England's treatment of Germany in the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I. This guilt is compounded by the fact that a close friend of Darlington's, Herr Bremann, commits suicide after World War I. This event, in conjunction with the dire economic situation Lord Darlington witnesses on his visits to Germany, inspires him to take action.
To begin with, Darlington’s actions are potentially harmless although he believes he is making a difference. He organises conferences involving people with little governmental potential including clergymen and ex-military man but eventually moves onto more serious members of the political word: he invites British and German heads of state to Darlington Hall in an attempt to peacefully prevent the Second World War. All the while, however, Darlington never understands the true agenda of the Nazis, who use him to further Nazi aims in Britain. Because of this, I would say that Lord Darlington cannot be blamed for his links with the Nazis as he was simply guilty of naivety rather than any true anti-Semitic or pro-fascist feelings. Stevens seems to believe that Lord Darlington was doing the thing most natural to him, and like any good servant sided with his employer on the issue, resolving himself to work as hard as possible to make sure everything was set correctly for...