Introduction
I have had Kazuo Ishiguro’s masterpiece ‘Remains of the Day’ languish in my reading list for well over 5 years and only recently had the chance to read it. It was the first book written by the Booker and Nobel prize winning author that I was able to read and hence I had very low expectations and also no notions as to the style or the genre the author belongs to, if he does that is.
The book was a relatively light reading at first but only upon reflecting on the book was I able to see the complexity of the subject matter. I believe some of the learnings are applicable to personal finance in general and FIRE (Financial Independence and Retire Early) in particular.
Spoiler alert — skip the next section if you have not read the book and would like to read it in the near future
The Novel
Stevens is a Butler at Darlington Hall, a stately house in the UK. The time period in the Novel is set between the years 1900s — 1950s. Stevens is completely dedicated to his work and he thinks that it is virtue to ignore personal feelings and maintain professional dignity.
On the rare occasions when he gets a chance to socialize, he chooses to spend time with fellow butlers to have a focused discussion on ‘What is a great butler?’ (Rather than discuss the lower order question of ‘Who is a great butler?’, something that I personally appreciate)
The story begins with Stevens at nearing the end of his career, has a new master, an American gentleman called Faraday. Having purchased Darlington hall, he decides to keep the core staff on duty at the Hall. Faraday convinces Stevens to go out on a motoring trip in the UK when he is away in America. Stevens accepts it after much reluctance.
During the course of this motoring trip Stevens remembers his past. His memories of interactions with the housekeeper, Miss Kenton, hints, although in a very subtle way, a potential romance. There is no way to know for sure as the Novel is in a first person (Steven’s) point of view. His biases and misses when it comes to recollecting from the past makes the Novel that much more personal.
One of Stevens’s self-stated motivation for the motoring trip is a response to Miss Kenton’s letter. In the letter Miss Kenton, who had long stopped working at Darlington Hall and had been married for a while hints at marital discord and her longing to return to work at Darlington Hall. Stevens wants to meet Miss Kenton and talk to her about the possibility of her coming back to Darlington Hall as the Housekeeper.
During the course of his motoring trip Stevens reminisces his career as a Butler. Most of his career was spent serving Lord Darlington. Right until the very end Stevens maintains loyalty to his master. Although, it turns out that the Lord was used by the Nazis to be manipulated and eventually comes to be seen as a fool by the larger sections of British Society.
The supreme testament to Steven’s loyalty and dignity, according to him, is displayed during one of the many visits of brokers of power to Darlington Hall after the Great War. Steven’s own father is dying in an upstairs room but he does not show any emotion and continues to serve. When a doctor visits to check on his father, he diverts him to treat a guest in need.
After meeting Miss Kenton in person, it becomes evident that the letter was written at a momentary phase of marital distress. Miss Kenton and her husband are back together. After talking for a while Stevens walks Miss Kenton to the bus stop and that is when his shield of professional armor cracks when he admits that his heart was breaking.
Towards the end he sits at a pier near the ocean and wonders what his life amounted to. He regrets that he gave his very best to his master. I believe the feeling is not regret but a feeling of not having lived one’s own life but living somebody else’s life hoping that they made the best use of the service provided.
Implications to FIRE
FIRE is all about freedom realized by making choices regards to work and personal life by taking control of one’s financial future.
However, more often than not, people go through life without being mindful of the passing of the days, weeks and years before they realize that they are living someone else’s life.
In Ishiguro’s own words, ‘we all are Butlers’ in some sense. We offer the most vigorous and healthy periods of our lives to someone higher up. We hope that our efforts are morally correct but never care to verify if that is in fact true. This is especially true in the corporate world.
It is not uncommon to see overzealous employees who bleed the organization’s colors. The only differentiating factor is how much one bleeds. Imagine someone who pinned their entire careers for Enron or Lehman Brothers. Many would have sacrificed their personal life, health to increase the chances of success of these organizations.
The average employee of these firms would not have questioned the morality of their actions. They did what they were told and tried to make their immediate colleagues and managers happy. In a really stretched out extreme scenario, every German citizen was a Nazi in the sense that they implicitly contributed to their higher-ups and abdicated their moral responsibility.
When one leads a life like this, the mistakes that the management makes are thrust upon them. Although, the average employee of these stained companies is innocent, the blood, sweat and tears shed for the sake of these organizations would amount to almost nothing and even a source of shame and regret so to speak.
This gives weight to the reasons to FIRE. Through FIRE, one is reducing the duration of time that one stays a Butler and hence reduces the probability of regret of not making one’s own mistakes. It also allows one to willfully consider what is important in life as opposed to being told as to what is important to meet the next deadline.
It may seem that I am prescribing that one should be dis-loyal or worse slack-off at work. In fact, it is the opposite when one takes a global perspective.
The global perspective is that of contribution to the world as a whole. A person who has FIREd is reducing waste and contributes a lot more to the world:
- They create employment opportunities for others by voluntarily vacating their positions
- They stay invested in various cash-flow generating assets which means that the resources available to the world are put to the most optimal use ex: Invest in Capital Markets, Startups etc.
- Most FIREd people seldom sit idle, they continue to contribute to causes that matter and are meaningful, to them and/or others
In conclusion, I would highly recommend the book and also to consider the big picture with regards to Work, Life and Relationships. Going by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Self-Actualization is the highest need. One can seldom achieve it by being a butler. It is better to be one’s own master and try and fail.