Biographical Note: Frank O’Connor (1903-1966) was born Michael O’Donovan on September 17, 1903 in Cork, Ireland. O’Connor was an only child, and grew up in a troubled an impoverished household. Because of a bad relationship with his alcoholic father, O’Connor saw himself as a “mommy’s boy” throughout his early years and even in his adulthood. At the age of twelve, O’Connor left school and came under the influence of a nationalist named Daniel Corkery. O’Connor served in the IRA during the Civil War that occurred after the 1922 treaty with Great Britain and was imprisoned for just under a year in 1923 with the defeat of the IRA.
After the war O’Connor tried a variety of different jobs but the one job that he actually enjoyed was as a librarian. O’Connor also had a love for writing. To do both, Michael O’Donovan took on the name Frank O’Connor to remain anonymous to the public. O’Connor was his mother’s maiden name, and Frank was his confirmation name. In the 1930’s O’Connor became director of the Abbey Theater in Dublin during which time he wrote many plays as well as the biography of Michael Collins. O’Connor wrote a total of 150 short stories, novels, plays and two autobiographies before his death in 1966.
Background: “Guests of the Nation” is a purely fictional tale of the inhuman side of War. The story “Guests of the Nation” is a very simple and easy read, which is one of the reasons that the story has been enjoyed all over the world. It is so simple but has touched the hearts of so many people throughout the years. Written in 1931, but re-written by O’Connor in the 1950’s, the re-written version is the story published in “Irish Writing in the Twentieth Century.” The story features two British soldiers named Hawkins and Belcher who were captured by the IRA and are being held hostage somewhere in the Troubles of Ireland. The two main soldiers watching over the Englishmen are Noble and Bonaparte, two young recruits of the IRA. Jeremiah Donovan is the commanding officer of Noble and Bonaparte and in charge of the whole operation that occurs in the story.
Précis of work: The story opens with the introduction and descriptions of the characters. The two British hostages are named Belcher and Hawkins. Belcher is a tall sluggish man whose name would suggest someone loud and disgusting but ironically Belcher is just the opposite. Belcher keeps to himself most of the time unless he is helping the old lady whose cottage they are staying in or playing cards in the evening. Hawkin’s name on the other hand is very fitting suggesting a hawk like character that feasts on other smaller animals. This is true in the sense that Hawkins constantly talks up a storm and thoroughly enjoys arguing with Noble.
The two main characters in charge of guarding the hostages are Noble and Bonaparte and they both are new recruits of the IRA. Noble’s name fits him because Noble is constantly defending moral and religious ideas while arguing with Hawkins. In the end however, Noble feels the opposite of “Noble” when he has to decide who to be noble to, either the IRA or his friends. Bonaparte, who is also the narrator in this story, has a very interesting name because it comes from the famous military leader Napoleon Bonaparte. However, in this story Bonaparte is just the opposite of a fierce soldier and leader and by the end of the story he is quite disgusted with war and the military. The final main character is Jeremiah Donovan who is the commanding officer of Noble and Bonaparte. Donovan’s name is very interesting because it is almost the same as O’Connor’s real last name O’Donovan. Jeremiah Donovan is the least attractive of all the characters, which may signify the way O’Connor feels about himself.
From the start of the story both of the hostages, Belcher and Hawkins, enjoy the Irish countryside, as well as their guards Noble and Bonaparte. Similarly Noble and Bonaparte take an instant liking to the hostages, and hang out with them every night playing cards and arguing, and chatting. Noble and Bonaparte hang out with the hostages so much that they even start talking like them as in the instances when they use the Englishmen’s expression ‘chum’ when addressing someone.
The two guards and hostages continue hanging out and becoming friends and everything is going fine until Jeremiah Donovan informs Bonaparte that they must execute the two Englishman. Bonaparte and Noble were new to the job and had no idea that this was a possibility and cannot believe their ears. What follows are the extreme mental battles of Noble and Bonaparte who have to cope with the fact that they must execute their friends. This mental and emotional struggle that the two soldiers go through has moved the hearts of thousands and is one reason why this story is so popular.
O’Connor wrote this story because he was disgusted with war and was disappointed with the IRA. The story was written from a variety of influences including his recollection of the English dialect that he had heard throughout his years, rumors that he had heard in prison, readings from prison journals, and readings of other short stories. However there are also many other parallels in the story that can be shown in O’Connor’s own life. The characters themselves are depicted from people whom O’Connor had met through the years. The two Englishmen can be compared to the divisional commander Liam Deasy that O’Connor describes as one of the nicest persons’ he had ever met. The nights described in the story of playing cards and arguing can be shown as the times where he himself was imprisoned and conducted similar activities with his peers. The feeling of the execution and the last words of Bonaparte that ‘And anything that happened me afterwards, I never felt the same about again,’ can be compared to O’Connor’s real life experience of the execution of Erskine Childers. Many more parallels can be made as well but the main reason why this story was written was because of his disappointment of war. This famous story however has been re-written as plays, and movies, and other stories. The extremely popular movie The Crying Game by Neil Jordan also was a retelling of this story.
Annotated Bibliography:
This book is a collection of essays written about Frank O’Connor’s works. There are essays on topics such as how Irish Womanhood is portrayed in O’Connors short stories, as well as one by Robert Evans that specifically discusses the short story “Guests of the Nation.”
This book is all about the life and the works of Frank O’Connor. McKeon describes why O’Connor wrote what he did, who his mentor was, and goes through the stages of O’Connor’s life. The book also includes a series of pictures of both Frank O’Connor and the events that are depicted in O’Connor’s short stories.
This book is a biography of Frank O’Connor. More specifically there is a large section on the writing of “Guests of the Nation.” The book describes the issues, which emerge from liberating a nation.
by Brian Kelly
for HONR 209V
Autumn 2002