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Kwai Chapter 1: Synopsis

It's often felt that there are big differences among the people of the world in terms of theirworld-view, or their outlook on life. Such a difference, or insuperable gap is thought toexist between the people of the East (Asia, particularly China and Japan) and the people ofthe West (Europe, North America).

And nowhere does this gap appear more obvious than in the need for saving face that is amajor cultural feature of many Asiatic peoples. But the author contends that the need forsaving face is something that is common and important to all cultures, East or West, thatpeople are people, and that they are essentially the same no matter where they live orwhere they're from. And nothing proves this more than a close look at the two maincharacters of this book, the British Colonel Nicholson and the Japanese Colonel Saito.

In chapter 1, we're introduced to Colonel Nicholson.

In late 1941, World War 2 was still very much a European war. Great Britain was involved inthe fight against Germany, but was still very much alone in a Europe being overrun by Naziforces. Being a world power, Britain had colonies all over the globe, including several inthe Far East, including oil-rich Malaya, and the pearl of her colonies, the sub-continent ofIndia. To the south lay a former colony and close ally, Australia. Stretched to the limit ofher resources, Great Britain would have a difficult time defending her Far Easternpossessions if they ever came under threat.

And they did.

After subjugating a major part of northern China for a decade, and effectively occupyingwhat is today Korea, Imperial Japan felt a need to expand its empire in search of rawmaterials and oil that were absolutely necessary to its economic survival. Allies of theGermans, the Japanese leadership felt it was essential to to acquire these things, even if itmeant war with Great Britain and/or the United States.

In December of 1941, the Japanese attacked. Their naval forces surprised the U.S. PacificFleet at Pearl Harbor and destroyed much of it at anchor, while their land forces overranthe American Philippines. As to the British, the Japanese took little time in brushing asidewhat little the British had in way of opposition. Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong weretaken quickly and ruthlessly, with over 800 Canadian soldiers either killed or captureddefending Hong Kong. To add further insult, the British battleship Prince of Wales, thepride of the Royal Navy, was sunk by Japanese aircraft.

Back to Colonel Nicholson.

Faced with this Japanese onslaught, British forces in the Far East under Japaneseoccupation were ordered to surrender. Although many of his men felt that they were duty-bound to make every attempt to escape and fight again, Nicholson was a man who followedhis orders to the letter, and refused to allow any under his command to attempt to escape.Instead, he would march his men into captivity in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.

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He is described by the POW camp medical officer/doctor, a Major Clipton. Cliptondescribes Nicholson as a typical military snob, who walks around with that air of superiorityand arrogance all officers have, but particularly British officers, who have for centuriesbeen the representatives of the world's only superpower.

Nicholson is a stickler for order and tradition, and views these things as part of what makesa British soldier superior to all other soldiers, and particularly Japanese soldiers, whom heviews as nothing more than barbarians. It bothers him greatly to surrender to soldiers whocome from a land of paper houses and whose nation is uncivilized compared to thegreatness of Great Britain.

But follow orders he must, and so, if he must be a prisoner to these barbarians, he willinsist that the British soldiers demonstrate their superiority over their captors by the waythey conduct themselves during their captivity. They will maintain their disciple and order.They will follow orders. They will present themselves as cleanly as they possibly can. Theywill salute superior officers, as well as saluting all Japanese officers. They will maintain

their pride and dignity, and by doing so, demonstrate their superiority over the Japanesewho have conquered them. And they will not escape. Clipton didn't know whether heshould be admired or disliked, or possibly both.

When the order came, Nicholson's men had not yet met any Japanese forces, and had towait for enemy soldiers to appear in order to surrender. Nicholson, in preparation, actuallyrehearsed how he would surrender, wanting it to look as dignified and as ceremonial aspossible, something befitting an officer in His Majesty's army. And of course, as a colonel,he had no intention of surrendering to any Japanese officer under the rank of colonel, as todo so would be a great dishonour.

The first Japanese troops the British encountered were first-line combat troops, who weresurprised that the British were not fighting back, but rather were surrendering indishonour. In the Japanese bushido culture, there is no such thing as surrender, and togive up short of death brought great dishonour to you and to your family. They reacted tothe British with various forms of brutality, but after seeing that the British were offering noresistance, quickly moved on with their forward advance. A second group of Japanesearrived, and since there was nobody of a high enough rank to surrender to, Nicholsonresigned himself to surrendering to a Japanese major, who was a first shocked, thenlaughed openly at the British colonel for his cowardice and the cowardice of his men.

After surrendering, the British were forced to march towards a series of POW camps where

the Japanes intended to use them in hard labour, particularly in the building of a railwaythat the Japanese hoped to use in an attempt to invade India. It was to one of thesecamps, alongside the Kwai River, that Nicholson's men were sent.

Upon his arrival, Nicholson noted the work being done, and the British prisoners who werebeing used to do it. He had no problem with British prisoners doing work, and he wouldinsist that they do it well, as befitting the superiority of British soldiers. What he had aproblem with was the Japanese insistence that British officers work right alongside theirmen. This was against the rules, and he had a copy of the Manual of Military Law to

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prove it. These rules were agreed upon at the Hague Convention, where the nations of theworld agreed to certain standards of behaviour, including the treatment of prisoners of war.Nicholson intends to point this out to the Japanese camp commander when he meets withhim.

The only problem was that Japan was not a signatory nation of that particular document.

In the view of the Japanese, according to their bushido tradition, prisoners were lower thanlife cowards, who deserved no respect, and were entitled to all the beatings and brutalityanyone brought their way as punishment for the great shame they had brought uponthemselves. They deserved death, and it would not bother the Japanese at all if most orall of them were to die in the building of the railway.