Would you become an informant if your life depended on it? Can suspicion and corruption ever rise to a level that makes loyalty impossible?

Much of the storyline revolves around betrayal. Would you become an informant if your life depended on it? Can suspicion and corruption ever rise to a level that makes loyalty impossible?

I think its impossible to say what one would do under the circumstances of threat to one's family , friends, and bodily harm. I would like to believe that my principles are strong enough to not jeopardize other people by becoming an informant---however the techniques used in the time of this book, and no doubt in the present are probably way more persuasive than one can imagine. I think it would be a rare individual who would not give something up at some point under this kind of duress.

Whenever I consider that question I think in terms of threats against myself first and I think honor would be more important. Then I read of the unrelentingly painful torture inflicted in this novel and I question my resolve. Then I realize how fast I would crumble if my children were the people at risk and I realize how emotionally weak I would be. I hope I would be able to take myself out of the equation with suicide but the desire to live can be so strong. Lying in bed and losing one's mind seems like a rational solution under the circumstances of the unremitting stress imposed on civilians in a civil war waged without rules.

I do believe I could take only a very short period before I would inform. My fear of torture and death would overwhelm everything else. Then I'd have to deal with my guilt, and possibly go crazy which could be a salvation.

It's an interesting question that I don't think has an easy answer, since really you don't know how you'd perform under duress. I'm not afraid of death, but I <I>am</I> afraid of pain, so I'm sure that would weigh into my actions. I'm also pretty self-preserving. So I don't think it would take much to turn me into an informer, particularly if I could convince myself somehow that the people I was informing on deserved it.

I think if my, or those I loved, lives depended upon it I would. I would never do it for financial gain. If tortured, I doubt I could hold up.

This is a tough question. Twice in my work life I was confronted with this dilemma. In both instances, while I lost my job for not finger pointing I was not used to this kind of extreme pressure. I would like to think even if the stakes were life or death I would do the honorable thing, however that's really hard to call. Self-preservation is a powerful human instinct.

This is such a difficult question. We would like to think that we would respond honorably, but we cannot truly understand the power of evil until we experience it. There are so many levels to consider, safety of loved ones, ones own ability to endure, what techniques are applied. I don't believe one really knows how strong or weak they really are. I am not sure ones life would become as important as being kept alive.

As others have said I am not sure what I would do. I'm not good with pain so my ability to keep my mouth shut would probably not last long.

After reading the other's comments, I see we all feel the same - we honestly cannot know what we would do. I do resonate with the comment that I would not betray for financial gain but I'm less confident in saying I'd not betray to protect those I love.

The more I read in the history and historical fiction genres, the more impossible it seems that anyone could definitively answer this question.