A review by joyfulme
The Man Without A Country by Edward Everett Hale

4.0

Phillip Nolan cursed his country during a court martial, and the judge responded by banishing him, not just physically but also psychologically, forbidding any of his fellow Navy crewmen to speak or give news of the United States for the 50 remaining years of Nolan’s life that he would spend at sea. He “repented of his folly and submitted to the fate he had asked for.” He capitulates pleading with the narrator, “No matter what happens to you, no matter who flatters you or who abuses you, never look at another flag, never let a night pass but you pray to God to bless that flag. Remember, boy, that behind all these men you have to do with, behind officers, and government, and people even, there is the Country Herself, your Country, and that you belong to Her s as you belong to your own mother.” And that was Hale’s message to his readers. Be thankful for your country. It’s a timely message- one that some voices in our culture have deemed trite, old fashioned, and even racist. But the context that Hale gives to this thought is worth consideration: Your country is your home.