Guests of the Nation by Frank O'Connor

"Well chums, what about it?"

I guess third time really is the charm. Guests of the Nation by Frank O’Connor completely surprised me (in the best way possible) and now I must reluctantly admit that perhaps I misjudged the guy as a short-story writer. I’m not fully on the bandwagon yet, but at this rate I might as well save myself a seat.

It’s hard not to read this story as openly anti-war, calling out the absurdity and brutality of conflict through sharp irony. Our narrator, Bonaparte, and his partner Noble are tasked with guarding two English prisoners, Hawkins and Belcher, in a rural cottage (even the names are ironic). And instead of the tense, hostile standoff you might expect, it’s surprisingly wholesome? At least during the first-half of the story. They do chores together, argue politics, play cards, and even dip into theology. It’s more like a slightly chaotic roommates-situation than anything resembling a war story.

This is where O’Connor’s humor really sneaks in, creating a lightheartedness in those small domestic moments, the playful banter, the genuine camaraderie between a group of men who, by all logic, should probably hate each other. He leans into the irony of it all: sworn enemies becoming something dangerously close to friends. So when the order comes down from above that Hawkins and Belcher must be executed in retaliation for British actions, the emotional whiplash hits twice as hard. The lightness of the earlier scenes doesn’t cushion the blow; rather, it sharpens it, making the tragic ending even more emotionally impactful. 

O’Connor’s writing is wry, warm, and deceptively funny, which only makes the final moments feel more gutting. It’s a heartbreaking reminder that war can take even the most human, genuine connections and destroy them through military conformity, defying all logic and reason.

You can read this story HERE.