Peace and War

Harris uses character convictions to reinforce a moral view of peace and war, where peace is the ultimate good and war is the ultimate evil. Chamberlain in particular delivers many small speeches on the nature of war and his memories of World War I that support this opposition. In the Number 10 garden on the morning of Day Two, he recalls his fear and helplessness during the suffering of World War I and his determination that he would never be so helpless again. However, his most potent summary of this binary between the evil of war and the goodness of peace comes in Day Four, when he greets the cheering German crowds outside the Regina Palast. He tells his advisers that the common people the world over want peace in which to live out the daily pleasures of life: “to cherish their children and their...