The Bridge Over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle begins with a large deployment of Allied prisoners of war headed to the Kwai river valley. Once at the river, the P.O.W.’s receive orders to begin work a bridge to connect a railway that stretches from Burma to Siam. Things begin badly for the allies when the commander of the P.O.W. camp, Colonel Saito, tries to force the officers of the …showed first 75 words of 608 total…

…showed last 75 words of 608 total…there that Joyce, the one who is to set off the charges, is forced to coldly kill his first enemy. Only he killed the wrong Colonel. Instead of killing Saito , like he did and thought he should have, he realizes that Nicholson was his biggest threat. In the end Joyce did not take “the only proper action” but instead ended up dead and the mission a minor success thanks to the efforts of Colonel Nicholson(184).