Honor

The dictionary definition of honor is "adherence to principles considered right; integrity." A debt of honor refers to what is owed to a person or entity in order to maintain one's integrity or to sustain the principles of that person or entity. In this work, debts of honor are clearly in conflict. To Yamata, the debt of honor is owed his family and his country, and it involves somehow avenging the suicide death of immediate family members and the humiliating defeat and occupation of his beloved country, a nation in which honor and principles, especially those of family and country, are centuries old and woven into the fabric of even modern society. To pay his debt of honor, however, Yamata is willing to engage in wholly dishonorable acts, including murder, treachery, and destruction of the stability of another nation.

Jack Ryan's debt of honor appears to be primarily...