Morals and Orders
There is a superstition that under danger men can be expected to have more than their normal powers, and that they will outdo their best efforts simply because their lives are in danger. Indeed, in many ways the reality is just the opposite, and individuals under stress are far less capable of doing anything other than blindly running from or charging toward a threat. There are institutions in society that people turn to to help determine what is right and wrong. Most people believe that the laws of society are right and it is our duty to follow them. The majority of people stop at a stop sign even when there is no one else at an intersection. Sometimes what is legally right and what is morally right do not coincide with each other. The characters in "Guests of the Nation" are forced to decide whether to follow orders or their stick to their own personal beliefs.
It is often hard to stick with our personal views when trying to accept something that is believed to be wrong. The characters in "Guests of the Nation" struggle with the acceptance of a very emotional change in their lives that causes them to take a different outlook on life. "And anything that happened to me afterwards, I never felt the same about again." (O'Connor 1100) The narrator has made it through this gruesome experience and realizes that life must go on. The narrator also understands that he is a changed man, never to be the same again. The sun rises every morning and falls every night. Understanding that life goes on is a key remedy in solving dreadful memories of the past.
The question of whether change is positive or negative is opinionated and...