大学时代下半月・2006年11
Topic for writi n F ri e n d ly E n e m i es
——Character analysis of Frank O’Conner’s short stoW of Guest of the Nation
王
(上海爱乐乐团
韬
上海200000)
Abstract: Patr1c1a Rob1ns0n 0nce said。“{n war,hatred and revenge drive out eth{ca1 and mora1
intelligence.”The short story of“Guest of the Nation”。written by Frank 0’Connor’s,wel1
confirms such a viewpoint towards war。which is stil1 prevalent in today’s world.This article,
based upon character analysis of the story which is fu11 of conflict al1 the way through
character images,plot arrangements as well as story settings,aims to arouse readers’further
thinking over absurdity of war and value of humanity.
war conflict humanity
“1 was somehow very small and very lost and lonely like a c
hild astray in the snow and anything that happened me afterwards,I
never felt the same about again.”——This is the ending of“Guest
0f the Nation”.written by Frank O”Conner.The recitation of the
first persona narrator,or one of the Irish guards named Bonaparte
in the story,moved me so deeply by his plain and somewhat
low—class words that those character images haunted in my mind
for long.After going through it,I found myself“lost”in the huge
gap made by the author between expectation and reality inside the
story while at the same time,1 was impressed very much by Frank
O’’Conner’s application of various writing techniques.
Frankly speaking,I have never read a short story like this
before,which applies so much irony and paradox in it.Things like
setting,plot,character and conversation ete,always develop far
beyond readers’ imagination.Perhaps the author’s own
experience of fighting with the Irish Republican Army(IRA)in the
War of Independence had offered much of the material to him.In
“Guest of the Nation”,it tells of a story occurred during the war
between Ireland and England when the former fought against the
latter in an attempt to establish self-rule.The two English
prisoners of war were guarded by the Irish soldiers and were
finally executed as revenge.However,the development of plot is
not that simple.As a mailer of fact,it is mainly through his round
and paradoxical characters that Frank O”Conner well expressed
his point of view towards war.
In the story,the author depicts five major fictional
characters.Belcher and Hawking,the two English prisoners of
war were guarded by their c叫nterparts——the Irish soldiers,
Noble and Bonaparte,or the narrator,in a small cottage.In the
opening paragraphs,readers may not feel any tense atmosphere
in that both of lhe English prisoners were actually treated in鼋
friendly way by their Irish guards.Just as the narrator said that
“I eouldn’t at the time see the point of me and Noble guarding
Belcher and Hawkins at all,for it was my belief that you could
have planted that pair down anywhere.from this to Claregalway
and they。d have taken root there like a native weed”,it bec ̄e
obvious that the two Englishmen were docile and had no
intention of escaping.So“after the first day or two”.the two
guards“gave up all pretense of keeping a close eye on them”.
Interestingly,the two parties which could be expected to pose
threat to each other got along quite wel1.
Further,surprisingly enough,the English prisoners even
began to be.admitted into the community.Since they were,
what the narrator Bonaparte described,the”de ̄ent chaps”,
they were invited to attend evening parties and were taught
some Irish dances.Belcher,the big Englishman, or a
card—game fanatic with quiet demeanor“got off with the old
woman of the house”even though she W&S“a great warrant to
scold.and cranky”.However。.before she could show her
hostility,Belcher had made her‘‘his friend for life’’by doing
household chores for her.When narrating,Bonaparte depicted
the event as a“treat”.Meanwhile。though he said,“Hawkins
g
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had a deplorable tongue.”he looked up:0 him for his ability
to argue over religion and other such topics.Undoubtedly,all
those dictions of Bonaparte’s displayed his fondness towards
the two POWs who were,in his eyes,the actual“guestsin the
name of the“enemies”.The same is true for the other
gLlard——Nnhle.Otherwise the opposing-parties would never
have got together for pastime every night and to chat in a
random way.
No wonder it is understandable that in the evening,
Belcher”would shift his long legs out of the ashes and say all
right,chums,what about it?’to propose cards games to the
guards.And one of the Irish soldiers would respond’’All right
chum”and they would start to play.Ironically,the two English
prisoners themselves did behave like guests.Then things went
to far especially when the talkative English prisoner Hawkings
argued against Noble,on random topics with unruliness.
The author’s depiction of the friendly relationship between the
English prisoners and the Irish,soldiers makes readers feel
comfortable so as to forget characters’real identities and the ongoing
war.But soon after,when the order of possible reciprocating
execution of the two POWs(prisoners of war)was conveyed by
Donovan,a shy countryman,who was a seemingly-incapable
superior officer to the guards,for the first time,readers were,all ofa
sudden,pushed into the reality of the war.Noble and the narrator
came to know what would be.1ikely to happen,while Belcher and
Hawkins still remained at ease and felt at home,thinking themselves
safe.
Yet judging fmm the two guards’character and their
respense to the frightful order,readers would rather not believe
that the order would necessarily lead to the execution of the two
English prisoners.The narrator even replied to Donovan with a
complaining tone,“Wa ̄sn’t it very unforeseen of you not to wain
Noble and myself of that in the beginning?”Apparently,the
friendship had already been estabhshed between the prisoners
and the guards,meanwhile,it implied that at hearing the order,
Bonaparte and Noble had no psychological preparation at al1.
Readers could easily touch their inner intensely-paradoxical pulse,
as Bonaparte said.“if it.was only an‘old dog that was going to
the vet’s.you’d try and not get too fond of him.’’The
understatement was quite clear that both of them could not make it.
It was with such a strong feeling of friendship that Noble once
thought of telling the Englishmen about that terrible information
although he just had a fierce squabble with Hawkings over the
existence of the next world.
Therefore,a sharp contrast between characters’perception of
the situation and the actual facts tok place once again.The
conflict and paradox in the guards’inner world were
widely-pervasive as the execution was forthcoming.On the one
hand,the narrator and Noble could not bear the idea of killing
their“friend”.They preferred to see the two Englishmen flee so
they wouldn’t have to shoot.?On the other hand,they were
soldiers whose duty was to obey unconditionally to the order from
superior officers.As Donovan gave explanation of the execution to
the English prisoners and commented on that duty as“unpleasant”.
suddenly,the narrator“never noticed that people who talk a lot
about duty find it much of a trouble to them.”What an irony it is
that even shortly before the brutal execution,the two parties still
addressed to each other“chum”,while throughout the whole story,
appellation between the two parties like“chap”,“ ̄llow”,“bloke”,
“bugger”,“pal”etc,were everywhere!No matter how sad or pitiful
the narrator feIt over the execution as he said at last:he“was
somehow very small and very lost and lonely like a child astray in
the snow”.No matter how hesitant or unwiling Noble was.No
matter how deeply the psychological pain would be.The fact is
that Noble and Bonaparte did follow the suit and take part in the
kill though the tragic ending of the story showed that the guards
reacting to the events as the murder of friends,not the other way
around.
It is self-evident that their role as combatant outweighed
their friendly relationship wim the two English prisoners.Was it
their sense of dutv that made them slay their“chums’’to blame?
When the story ends,the question stil remains.That leads readers
to thinking further about war itself,which might be what the
author wanted to express in—depth:Could duty overpower
humanity on the altar of patriotism?Or in other words,could war
justify the barbarian slaughter?Answer came as Patricia Robinson
put it,“in war,hatred and revenge drive out ethical and moral
intelligence.’’When the two guards were ultimately overwhelmed by
the sense of duty and made the kill to their“friends”in the
capacity of combatants{they also became the victims of the
political powers which superseded one’s innate moral code and
disregarded the humanity.Thus it can be seen,when leaving a
strong impression of irony to his readers,the author tok pains to
display the cruelty and absurdity of the war as well as his attitude
towards it,——an abomination that War is always working against
humanity.
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