#189 Guests of the Nation- Frank O’Connor
The English and the Irish are in constant conflict. A group
of young Irishmen are involved and have two British men as captives, sort of.
Neither of them really know they are truly captive, nor does half the group that is holding them. They
have nightly card games over tea and argue religion and politics.
“The capitalists pay the priests to tell you about the next
world so that you won’t notice what the bastards are up to in this.”
It seems that none of them have a full grip on the situation,
or the conflict in general other than that-side-did-this-so-we-must-do-this,
etc. Yet somehow they are resigned to this violent reality and whether they
believe or not in what each one’s side is about, they understand duty and a
skewed sense of honor.
Maybe I’m projecting my own sensibilities onto this, but
O’Connor does a good job representing the meaninglessness of this sort of
regional hatred and Capulet/Montague or Hatfield/McCoys type of absurd feud.
Rating:7-7-8-8 Total= 30
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