A Critical Analysis of Guests of the Nation Corina Bollain y Goytia English 2341 Professor Nelson
What emotional and mental effects does war have on soldiers that have been put in a situation of having to kill an enemy? What becomes of their moral values? How do they cope with it for the rest of their lives? Frank O Connor s Guests of the Nation was published in 1931 as the title of a short story collection. O Connor s short story may be fiction, yet portrays some of his own experiences when he served in the Irish Civil War form 1922-1923 as well as the experience of many soldiers today. With the use of dialogue and first person point of view, Frank O Connor conveys to his readers of Guests of the Nation the remorseful and emptiness feeling soldiers endure during and after being in war. Soldiers undergo a lot during war, emotionally and mentally, they learn the true meaning of duty, and in such desperate sentiment of guilt seek God for forgiveness. In the last section of Guests of the Nation we clearly see the damage war can have on soldiers as we live in the thoughts of the narrator, Bonaparte. After leaving the scene where they kill Hawkins and Belcher, Bonaparte thinks, It is so strange what you feel at times like you can t describe it (O Connor, 2008, p.59). Bonaparte was left with nothing, I was somehow very small and very lost and lonely like a child astray in the snow. And anything that happened to me afterwards, I never felt the same about again (O Connor, 2008, p.59). It has been proven that during war, having to kill someone right before you is much harder and affects someone much more than killing with a bomb or from a distance. Bonaparte, like many soldiers experience this, as critic Richard F. Peterson asserts, [Bonaparte] is someone who has taken part in an action so emotionally and morally disturbing that it has altered his life (n.p.).michael L. Storey (1986) states that Bonaparte s moral decision has led him to experience feelings of aloneness and insignificance in a vast universe (p.160). It is clear that through the thoughts of the narrator, killing someone, and in this case someone he was fond of, has changes him
internally. As Michael L. Storey said, Bonaparte now feels insignificant because of what he had to do. Many soldiers, as Bonaparte and Noble, are faced with a conflict between duty and what they believe is right. As the relationship between the Irish guards and the English hostages grows, it is difficult for the guards to have to put an end to the lives of their hostages. When the prisoners are taken to their death, Bonaparte thinks, And all the time I was hoping that something would happen; that they d run for it or that Noble would take over the responsibility from me (O Connor, 2008, p,56). Stanley Renner (1990) states that Bonaparte remains troubled by the terrible human consequences of the military actions their destinies commit them to- the former, in giving orders that cost human lives, the latter, in carrying out such orders (n.p.). The idea of duty is very visible and it creates conflict with the moral values the guards hold. Storey (1986), comparing Bonaparte to another fictional character of war expresses that Bonaparte is reluctant to perform the duty required of him; each regrets, because of the dilemma that the intimacy creates, that he becomes intimate with the prisoner (p. 159). It is troublesome for the guards to have to shoot their hostages, the hostages who with time became their friends, and Bonaparte hopes that the prisoner will escape, thereby dissolving the moral dilemma; and finally, each finds himself at the end, after having made his moral choice, with an extreme sense of aloneness and insignificance (p.159). These statements show that Bonaparte was only doing his duty, but in the end, his duty destroys him inside. With a remorseful feeling during and after the execution of the Englishmen, Bonaparte and Noble seek God. As the Irish are getting ready for the execution to be carried out, Bonaparte is wondering what I d do if they put up a fight for it or ran, and wishing to God they d do one or the other (O, Connor, 2008, p. 56). After having faced such a difficult and destructive act as a
human being, soldiers question their faith and morals. They seek forgiveness because to them it was something they had to do, their duty, not something they believe was justified in God s eyes. Stanley Reener (1990) analyzes Noble, the Christian who can resolve the problem of evil through faith in a hidden providence and absolve his own sinful complicity in evil by seeking God s forgiveness (n.p.). Although there is a minimal reference to God, it is apparent that as the soldiers find themselves with guilt and remorse, they seek God for clemency. Many soldiers that come back from war today arrive with a questioning of faith, and seek to fill that empty feeling of the aftermath of war. It is evident that in Frank O Connor s Guests of the Nation the reader is able to unveil the point he wanted to get thru, soldiers endure not only physical, but emotionally and mentally pain during and after war. By using first point of view from the narrator, Bonaparte, the reader is able to place themselves in his shoes and comprehend the conflicts they encounter, the conflict of defining what duty is and that they must carry it out, even when they do not concur with the act of killing. This short story has been analyzed by many literary critics, and many agree that O Connor s purpose was to share and let us feel how soldiers are affected by fulfilling their duty of defending our freedom and nations. Guests of the Nation depicts to the reader the emotional and mental effects of war on soldiers, the conflict between duty and humanity, and the search of forgiveness after committing immoral acts against their beliefs.
Annotated Bibliography O Connor, F. (2008). Guests of the Nation. In R.DiYanni (Ed.), Literature; approaches to fiction, poetry, and drama (pp. 51-59). Boston; McGraw Hill. (Original Work published 1931) Peterson, R.F. (1994). Guests of the Nation. Reference Guide to Short Fiction, Retrieved from Literary Reference Center database This critical essay summarizes the plot and theme of the short story with emphasis on the impact of O Connor s usage of first-person point of view. He brings up the actions and feelings Bonaparte experiences at the time of the executions to support his idea. This essay supports the idea that Bonaparte, like many other soldiers, experience conflict at war. Renner, S. (1990). The theme of hidden powers: Fate vs. human responsibility in Guests of the Nation, Studies in Short Fiction, 27(3), 371. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. The scholarly article analyzes the conflict between duty and humanity that Bonaparte faces. He uses Bonaparte s reactions to Donovan s orders to convey the difficulty of understanding and having to accept the true meaning of duty. His analysis of Bonaparte s conflict supports that many soldiers today are still confronting this. Storey, M.L. (1986). The Guests of Frank O Connor and Albert Camus. Comparative Literature Studies 23(3), 158-164. Retrieved from Literary Reference Center This essay compares Bonaparte to another fictional character that is under the same situation. He extensively explicates how Bonaparte is a similar representation of what O Connor experienced while serving in the Irish Civil War.