In addition to the establishment of the Republic of Ireland, the Irish War of Independence also resulted in the creation of enduring literature that reflects a morally ambiguous social climate. In a period of conflict, it is difficult to define a clear sense of principles. Participants in the War of Independence were put in extraordinary circumstances in which they were forced to make difficult, life-and-death decisions. As Cormac K. H. O’Malley wrote, “The revolution…was barely worth the name in social terms, being a collapse of British political will by force of guerilla warfare, an achievement no less the remarkable for that. It was a sporadic, intense, and intimate war” (McCarthy 3). This phenomenon is clearly seen in Irish literature during the period, which reflects a growing sense of moral ambiguity – particularly in how it deals with executions. In a section from Irish Republican Army officer Ernie O’Malley’s book, From Another Man’s Wound, he recalls his experience ordering the execution of three British officers. Writer Frank O’Connor’s short story, “Guests of the Nation,” is a fictionalized version of a similar experience. Although both works are written in first-person, there are some discrepancies in the depictions of execution. Both narrators experience feelings of guilt, but the fictionalized account suggests a deeper loss, as O’Connor assigns more details to his story and describes a more intense moral dilemma for the narrator.
