The basic situation of the short story "Guests of the Nation" by Frank O'Connor is a story of friendship and war between two opposing sides, the Irish and British during war time. The two Englishmen, Belcher and Hawkins whom are prisoners of war and the Irishmen who are holding them captured engage in frequent card games, joke telling and arguing altogether while the war seems worlds away.

The conflict with in the short story is an internal conflict. The Irishmen are forced to forget about all humanity when dealing with the enemy during combat. This was extremely hard for the guards because all but Donovan had befriended the prisoners. It was stated that if any Irish prisoner was killed by the English, then Hawkins and Belcher would be executed. This was hard for both the guards and the prisoners because although they knew that Hawkins and Belcher would...