Over the past two decades, a variety of approaches to teaching and encouraging public administration ethics have been advanced. To that end, theories of social justice, citizenship claims, integrity-based approaches, moral leadership, and a renewed emphasis on professionalism have all made significant contributions to the discussion. This article offers a different approach through a reading of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day. Ishiguro's characterization of moral conflict, as it appears within this novel, is particularly interesting and relevant for those engaged in public service. What emerges from the analysis provided here is an appraisal of the moral conflicts inherent within public administration, an appreciation of the moral fragility of individual decision making, and a basis for a new understanding of loyalty within public service that is, or ought to be, intelligently bestowed.
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