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Chapter 3 Synopsis

We're introduced to three new characters in this chapter. On the British side we meet MajorHughes and Captain Reeves, while Colonel Saito makes his first appearance for the Japanese.

At their first meeting, Colonel Nicholson explained to Colonel Saito the reason for his notwanting his officers to work on the bridge alongside the enlisted men. He reasoned that it wouldbe better for the Japanese, because the British soldiers would work better if they werecommanded by their own officers. Making these officers work just like the men would strip themof their authority, and this would lead to a breakdown of discipline and a decline in the quality oftheir work. Saito appeared to listen to Nicholson's arguments before dismissing him, making theBritish colonel think that there was reason to hope. After all, Hughes, a mining companydirector in civilian life, and Reeves, a public works engineer, both agreed that it would makemore sense for the Japanese to take Nicholson's advice if they were to build a bridge that wouldactually work as planned.

But Major Clipton has his doubts.

He knows Colonel Saito better than the three newcomers. And he's heard the stories of whatSaito becomes when he's drinking. And it's not good.

Saito, at one time, served as a military attache in a British colony in the Far East, a position ofsome prestige and one that allowed him to hone his skills in the English language. While servingin this capacity, he saw much of the British way of things. He resented the British for theirpower in the world, a power that extended into his part of the world, a power that haddemonstrated its superiority over his fellow Asians, and a power that allowed the British to walkaround as if they were the absolute finest race on the planet. He hated them for their

arrogance, possibly because, secretly, he wished it was Japan with thepower/superiority/pride/arrogance instead. Even as a proud officer of a proud race, Saitoseethed when the British looked down their noses at the Japanese, as they did with all otherAsians. He dreamed of a day when Japan would teach the British a very hard lesson as to whowas superior to who.

But Saito lost his position as military attache because of his chronic drinking, something thatbrought great shame upon him, great loss of face, and something he tried to compensate for bydrinking even more. And then he became trapped in the cycle of his drinking. He drank becausehe felt bad. He became a brutish thug when he drank, and when drunk would do/say things tocause himself additional embarrassment. And this would make him feel bad about himself some

more. And so he would drink some more because he felt bad. And so on.

There was a reason why he was the commandant of a prisoner of war camp. All the really goodofficers of his rank were leading combat units to great victories over the British and Americans,and were winning glory for themselves in the eyes of the emperor and his highest generals. Andhere he was stuck in the jungle, far away from the honour of battle, building a bridge over amosquito-infested river, in command of a bunch of lowly wretches. And he was shamed by it.But, deep inside, he knew the reasons for it were legitimate, even though he preferred to thinkthat he was being cheated by those above him.

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It was dishonour. It was shame. And it was a major loss of face. And he dulled it through hisdrinking.

After listening to Nicholson's arguments about the officers not working, Saito returned to his

office to give the whole thing some thought. And he started to drink. The more he drank, theangrier he became. How dare these British take that tone with him! How dare that Britishcolonel think he had the right to preach to a Japanese officer! Even in defeat, the Britishcouldn't help telling everyone how to do things. They were cowards! They had surrendered!And now they had the nerve to tell him how to run his POW camp!

Now thoroughly drunk, Saito had worked himself into a rage. He felt that he had lost face infront of his men by even listening to Nicholson in the first place, instead of beating him into thedirt at the first hint of disrespect. Well now, by God, or whomever you happen to pray to, hewas going to get that face back by giving these British and their arrogant colonel of theirs ademonstration of just who was in charge of this camp. And so he called the camp out on parade.

He stood on a table, as General Yamashita had done, with his gloves and polished riding boots on,his sword dangling at his hip, his hand on its hilt. And he told them what he needed to tell them.

He told them that he hated them. In fact, I hate the British! was something he seemed tostart every sentence with. He told them that they were his prisoners, and that he had power oflife or death over them, and that it mattered little to him how many of them he might have toshoot to get his way. They should take pride at being given this honourable mission on behalf ofthe emperor, and being led by such a senior and important Japanese officer such as himself. Theofficers would work alongside the men, and that was that. Any disobedience would be met withdeath. And if he had to kill the bunch of them, then so be it. Their lives meant nothing to a

senior officer of the Grand Army. Because, as he said more than once to drive his point home, Ihate the British!

He tottered about on the table, not in total command of his faculties, and although his messagewas a tough one, he was obviously drunk, and it didn't particularly make him look as good as hemight have hoped, to either the British prisoners, or to his own Japanese soldiers. It may bethat, in his attempt to gain face in their eyes, he may well have lost some as well.