Character Analysis of Jeremiah Donovan in Guests of the Nation

邱松超

【Abstract】Jeremiah Donovan is a complex and complicated character in the short story， “Guests of the Nation”， of Frank O'Connor. By analyzing the character figure of Jeremiah Donovan， this article will dissect the inner world and behavior motivation of Jeremiah Donovan， and reveal the effect of war on people.

【Key words】War； Humanity； Distortion； victim

First published in 1931， “Guests of the Nation” is an excellent short story written by Frank O'Connor. In this story， the author portrays the execution of two Englishmen jailed by a small group of rebels， somewhere in Ireland， during the Irish War of Independence， and reveals the real sense of camaraderie between the two English prisoners， and a type of special emotion between them and Irish fighters. Also the penetrating sarcasm to the betrayal of Irishmen is described with the two Englishmen being killed as the victims of retaliation . It reflects the complex & conflicting emotional entanglements， and distorted humanity during the war.

In the story， the author creates five lifelike characters. As one of five main characters， Jeremiah Donovan is not the best important character who covers all pages， but he should be the most complicated and complex one. The human contradictions and conflicts in the war are embodied in him profoundly and vividly， which make him more like a real person.

Jeremiah Donovan come out as a frail and shy figure， in the first scene of the story. As the narrators describing， he is “sober” and “contented”. “He reddened when you talked to him， tilting from toe to heel and back， and looking down all the time at his big fanners feet”.and his broad accent also is teased by Noble， and Bonaparte. Even though Jeremiah Donovan is an officer with higher rank than another two Irishmen， in his debut， we can not see he gets the respects from hiss subordinates. When Noble and Bonaparte can be more acquainted with two English prisoners， and call each other brothers， Jeremiah Donovan is quite reserved. He keeps his distance way from not only his prisoners but also his colleagues. In Jeremiah Donovans first appearance， it seems what we see is a shy， nervous，humble and cautious unknowledgeable countryman.

The second scene that Jeremiah Donovan come on stage is a talk regarding the prisoners. Jeremiah Donovan explains the reason of keeping Belcher and Hawkin as the hostages， not the prisoners of war， to Bonaparte， plainly and coldly. He tells Bonaparte， if the enemies kill their soldiers， and they will kill the two hostages as revenge lightly. Facing with the questioning about the reason for execution from Bonaparte， Jeremiah Donovan says， “What difference is there？”. In his opinion， the enemies kill our prisoners， and we kill theirs， which is taken for granted. Compared with Bonaparte and Noble， Jeremiah Donovan is more mature and rational. He knows well the Ware rules， and what a solider should do in the War. When Bonaparte says， they have been friends with the two Englishmen， and they should not kill friends though they once are enemies， Jeremiah Donovan looks at him“in surprise”. Maybe what Jeremiah Donovan is thinking of it is impossible for soldiers in war to have any friendship or emotion， specially to the enemies. In the whole talking， Donovan keeps calm， and reason， not alike Bonapartes surprise and emotional action. Here Jeremiah Donovan has been a cold and rational officer， from a shy and sober “countryman”. He calmly states they will kill the two English hostages if their soldiers are killed by the enemies，without any mood fluctuation. Compared with Bonaparte， clearly Jeremiah Donovan knows he has to obey the orders from his superiors， or if he is emotional， he also can not survive in the cruel war.

The final time comes. According to the order， the two Englishmen will be executed as the victim of retaliation. Jeremiah Donovan gives the clear and laconic order to Bonaparte and Noble， and ask them take the prisoners out in the excuse that they will be shifted again. At the same time， he warns Noble that“I would not like it go go beyond ourselves”， which shows his conscious and methodical. When Hawkins asks him， “What have you against me， Jeremiah Donovan？”. Jeremiah Donovan says， “I never said i had anything against you. But why did you people take out four of our prisoners and shoot them in cold blood？”. In his opinion， There is not individual emotion， but only tit for tat. Really he looks like a war machine.

Is Jeremiah Donovan really a cold-blood executioner？ But he also is shaking with excitement when he tells Hawkins the true reason of getting them out of the cottage. However， maybe it is the only moment when he is stung by conscience. In the majority of the time，from that the two Englishmen taken out of cottage， to the execution done， What Jeremiah Donovan does the most is to ask，”have you any message to send？” ， in his cold and excited sort of voice. Even he helps Belcher to tie the handkerchiefs about his eyes. Alike that a machine is dealing in its programs， In Jeremiah Donovan world， It seems he only want to finish the task asap. For him， the execution is only an order， a shot， and it is so simple. Even when finally， Nobel can not bear any more， and raises his fist at Donovan， Donovan still raises his gun and fire to Belcher in a flash. In this condition， he still thinks of that he has to finish his task， —“ his duty”.

“You understand that Were only doing our duty.” says Donovan. It is what is called “duty” that Jeremiah Donovan emphasizes again and again. When he tells Hawkins and Belcher about the true reason that they will be shot as a reprisal， Jeremiah Donovan begins on the usual rigmarole about duty and how unpleasant it is. When executing Belcher， Donovan still mentions“were only doing our duty”. He speaks to Belcher， to Hawkins， to Noble， and to Bonaparte， also speaks to himself. In Jeremiah Donovan， we see， the individual will and emotion are erased， and the human nature is distorted in the war. The creed of war is， “you will be shot for not doing it”， is indoctrinated to Donovan. As he says， “Yes， you would，” when Hawkins asks if anybody thought hed shoot Noble. That is to say， for you， you would do the same. Jeremiah Donovan does not believe， there is emotion and warmth between people in war.