The Relationship Between ?Guests? and ?Hostages? in ?Guests of the Nation?

In Frank O?Connor?s ?Guests of the Nation,? the two Englishmen, Belcher and Hawkins, are treated both like guests and like hostages. Guests are usually thought of as people who are invited to stay somewhere and should be treated very well. On the other hand, hostages are thought of as prisoners who are held against their will in hopes of being used for the benefit of their captors. In the story, Belcher and Hawkins are depicted as both guests and hostages.
Towards the beginning of the story, the two Englishmen are overwhelmingly shown as guests of the Irish. The story is set in an old lady?s home, which is not the typical place to keep hostages or prisoners of war. The man named Belcher refers to his captors as ?chums,? which indicates that the Irish are his friends. A hostage would usually not refer to his captors as friends if he were permitted to talk to his captors at all. Then the author shows the two Englishmen playing cards with the Irish, which is not an activity u...