Analyse af Brian Moores 'Lies of Silence'

The conflict between Protestants and Catholics between app. 1968-1998, known as the Troubles, left the entire population of Northern Ireland in a state of fear – especially because of numerous terror attacks executed by the Catholic IRA and the Protestant UDA. Civilians became victims of this endless fighting and were always at risk of being dragged into these political conflicts with crucial consequences following.

In the novel, Lies of Silence by Brian Moore, the main character Michael Dillon is unwillingly infiltrated in exactly these political conflicts, and it forces him into a dilemma where no right decision can be made. Suddenly, the problems and conflicts in the country interfere with his own life in a way that has decisive consequences for his personal life – as well as the life of the ones close to him. It is a story that deals with the horrid situation in Northern Ireland in the Troubles, but seen from the point of view of an ordinary man who becomes an unwitting victim of the political clashes.

Dillon faces the moral dilemma of either blowing up a number of innocent people or risk the life of his wife Moira, as IRA makes them hostages in their own house and threatens Dillon to drive a bomb into the hotel, he is managing, by claiming they will kill Moira if he phones the police during the act. The goal is to kill the leader of the Orange Order’s Canadian lodge, reverent Alun Pottinger, who stays at the hotel.