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Veterans and mental health issues proposition paper
Veterans and mental health issues proposition paper
Character development introduction
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Just outside a small town, in the dense woods was a sniper preparing himself for the coming night. The moon had begun to peer up, fading away the summer twilight. It was a harsh, desolate place the sniper was to inhabit tonight. He set his sniper rifle against a nearby tree; he lowered his head into his hands. He took deep breaths. The sniper was a young man. Strong, with sleek features, he looked like a normal person any other day, but on nights like these he was a different man. His eyes were cold, gleaming like a hunter, but deep and withered like a man who has seen too much death. It was a delicate balancing act for the sniper, the hunter kept him alive, the thoughtful man kept him sane. The sniper raised his head; just above that small village, behind the flashes of war and sounds of battle were dark clouds rolling in - a storm coming. The sniper picked up his rifle and began his walk to the town, his eyes gleaming.The sniper was now in the town, he moved between destroyed buildings, heading to a nearby watchtower. A large portion of the tower had eroded to the tides of war, to any other solider or civilian this tower would have been seen as unusable, but to the sniper, it was a diamond in the dirt.
After the sniper surveyed the village, a brief light of relief came over him. There were clearly no high priority targets here, and so, he wouldn’t have to use his rifle tonight. He would observe the state of the village, which was primarily in ruins and assess its ‘threat level’. He looked through the scope of his rifle, rather cheerfully, checking the weaponry the soldiers were holding.
He whispered to himself, “AK-47s, RPGs…Tank.” The tank was surrounded in rubble, and definitely didn’t look it could run, regardless it added...
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...his arm, trying to relax. It might have worked had she not grabbed his broken arm. Pain shot through the sniper in horrific waves. She shrieked back, genuinely sorry. The sniper noticed nothing was left of the tower. He cheerfully looked back at the tank, the rest of the tower landed on the tank with just enough strength to crush the people inside.
The women asked him an odd question, though most of the question was blurred he did make out, “You – are – sniper?” She then held in front of him his sniper; he grabbed it from her with an overexcited smile. He took in her features. Something had seemed familiar about her.
He was about to ask her a question, but she beat him to it. “I think you saved me last night,” she smiled, “I can get you bandaged up back in town. There are no more soldiers here.”
A different look came into the snipers’ eyes, it was a happy one.
of importance to him. He begins by describing to you the feeling of being shot
this way Liam O’Flaherty has depicted turmoil and plight in the war-torn city in this short story titled “The Sniper”.
As a socialistic society we live in we find ourselves in positions were conflicts arise between friends or family. 'The Sniper'; was written by Liam O ' Flaherty to express a subtle yet powerful opinion on such a conflict. With references this essay will analyse the short story bringing to light the structure used to contribute to the theme.
The mood of the story is dark and weary. In this scene the sky is gloomy and there are Republican and Free Starter soldiers fighting in the Irish Civil war, “The long June twilight faded into the night. Dublin lay enveloped in darkness but for the dim light of the moon that shone through the fleecy clouds.. machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night, spasmodically” (O’Flaherty 1). Although the mood of the story is creepy and dim for the most part, it is silent with the sudden sounds of guns firing. As the story progresses, the sniper’s emotions begin reflecting on his actions. He begins to feel guilt and remorse for killing someone and the mood shifts to tension and violence.
Julianna Claire, an award winning poet once said, “War makes men act like fools, and makes fools pretend to be brave.” War is a very difficult and dangerous game. There must be a just cause to fight for, supporters on either side of the war, and clear plan on what the war ought to look like. Though, as much as countries plan their strategies and perfect their tactics, war never seems to go how people think it should. War creates heartache, makes countries question their governments, and changes the lives of the soldiers who fight in them. One such story that address the damages of war, is Ambush, by Tim O’Brien (1946). In this short story, Tim O’Brien tells a story of a young man fighting in Vietnam who kills a member of the Vietnam army. Robin Silbergleid, a neurosurgeon in Seattle, Washington, who minored in
The theme of The Sniper was the civil war and how war can destroy a man both in body and mind for the rest of his life. Liam O’Flaherty suggests the horror of war not only by presenting its physical dangers, but also by showing its psychological effects. We are left to wonder which has the longer lasting effect-the visible physical scars or the ones on the inside? The theme of The Most Dangerous Game was hunter hunted and shows the author's point of view on how one who has intellect can overcome one who has intelligence or instinct. The two stories are similar in showing that even under pressure a man can use his reasoning to keep him alive.
From sunrise to sunset, day after day, war demolishes men, cities, and hope. War has an effect on soldiers like nothing else, and sticks with them for life. The damage to a generation of men on both sides of the war was inestimable. Both the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, and the poem “I Have a Rendezvous with Death,” by Alan Seeger, demonstrate the theme of a lost generation of men, mentally and physically, in war through diction, repetition, and personification.
It is apparent that the topic of war is difficult to discuss among active duty soldiers and civilians. Often times, citizens are unable to understand the mental, physical, and physiological burden service members experience. In Phil Klay’s Ten Kliks South, the narrator struggles to cope with the idea that his artillery team has killed enemy forces. In the early stages of the story, the narrator is clearly confused. He understands that he did his part in firing off the artillery rounds, yet he cannot admit to killing the opposition. In order to suppress his guilt and uncertainty, our narrator searches for guidance and reassurance of his actions. He meets with an old gunnery sergeant and during their conversation, our narrator’s innocence
The story demonstrated the tough decision the snipers had to make in the war. The snipers had to go through a lot of hard training; it took a lot of dedication and motivation. Being a sniper is a very tough position they had many responsibilities. They had to protect their teammates over night while they traveled to their destination. Snipers had to stay put overnight without being able to leave their location to make sure their teammates do not get ambushed, sniped from the terrorist, or walk into a trap. The terrorist would set traps in the ground and the sniper would have to watch to make sure the Americans do not walk into it or they would catch them planting the bomb and kill them in the
“I looked at Ras on his horse and at their handful of guns …” With only thirteen words, a minefield of images from the narrator’s voice tells of an underlying story. “I.” This pronoun speaks volumes of who’s words and who’s voice will lead us through the, apparently, important story that is to follow. The scene that is painted for the readers in the very beginning is that of post-medieval violence. “Guns” do not invoke carefree, cheerful images, but those of terror and death; adrenaline. The “I” of this tale wants to share a terrifyingly significant story. To see the full meaning, we must delve much deeper and discover who Ras is, why our narrator is looking up at them, and what events have taken place thus far for this moment to occur. Why is this story important to the narrator?
In the short story the author uses the sniper’s actions and reactions to create a feeling of anxiety or dread. In “The Sniper” before the republican shot his brother, he began to feel a lust for battle. The author describes what the sniper did before taking the shot, he was smiling, and most sane people are not happy looking in the face of death. The author makes something seem amiss by the characters actions. Liam O’ Flaherty creates suspense through actions, when the sniper goes to check out the body, the author then reveals it is his brother. Through the characters action up into the reveal the mood was anxious. The revealing of it being his brother must have badly affected his mind, after all he did kill his own brother. Liam O’ Flaherty uses suspenseful actions to show how war affects the
There is a truth universally acknowledged among those that have seen combat: war changes a man. Sometimes this a positive change, instilling bravery into the hearts of faint-hearted young men or creating bonds of camaraderie that will last lifetimes. Unfortunately, more often war sees a darker change in a man, sees him stuck down, left lifeless in soul if not body. WWII was a dark time for America, and many of the strapping soldiers that left for the glory of war came back injured, seeing ghosts on every front, sick in a way that many people did not understand. Tayo, in Leslie Silko’s Ceremony, is one such man, and Silko’s use of a wandering and fractured narrative showcases these symptoms, and brings to life the struggle soldiers had adjusting to home after visiting what some would call hell.
Envision a man that sat on a grimy concrete block, as nightfall began to crystallize before his eyes. His hair, charcoal-grey, was matted and straggly, as if he had ever known the pleasure of a hot shower or comb except when he was in the war. His once shimmering brown eyes were know hollow and cold. His eyes, that were once filled with the upmost blissfulness, now sagged like the bulky bags underneath his eyes, consumed by the loneliness and despair he felt for himself, for his lack of purpose in life. This man did not bare a smile, only crinkles where one used to be. He wore his only faded blue jacket with a tan shirt tucked underneath it. He wore cruddy worn out jeans that barely seized his thin waist and boney legs. His only pair of shoes that were once white, we're now grungy. His finger nails were bitten and dirty. This man, like many other homeless veterans, struggle everyday of their lives.
The Sniper exhibits qualities that are both experienced and amateur. O’Flaherty describes the Sniper as “a man who is used to looking at death”, from which we can infer that the sniper has seen many deaths, since a person who is exposed frequently to death gradually grows senseless to it. In the passage, “There was a flash and a bullet whizzed over his head. He dropped immediately.”, we can tell from the “dropped immediately” that the sniper has exceedingly quick reflexes, something usually apparent in those who are experienced in the techniques of war.
In this story the author shows how location plays a big part in how physically dangerous a war is. Gunshots heard throughout the city are a sign of how close the fighting between the “Republicans and Free Staters…” is to innocent citizens (this is most often the case in civil war). The sniper’s positioning “on a rooftop near O’Connell Bridge” is very dangerous, for he can see everyone who enters the town, but they cannot see him. “…Machine guns and rifles…” are the weapons of choice in this story; very dangerous, for they are very strong guns that are “true” war weapons. As evidenced above, location plays a big part in how dangerous a war is.