Liam O’Flaherty’s The Sniper describes the horror of the Irish Civil war between the Free Staters and the Republicans. He tells the short story from the perspective of a Republican sniper.
The setting of this short story is Dublin. The city is described as “enveloped in darkness”, which gives us a very depressing and mysterious atmosphere, indicating that war is an horrible thing. The line "The dim light of the moon shone through fleecy clouds, casting a pale light" conveys a isolated and dark feeling, because the moon is often thought to be lonely so high up in the sky.
"Around the beleaguered Four Courts the heavy guns roared. Here and there through the city machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night, spasmodically like dogs
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By introducing the main character as “a Republican sniper lay watching,” readers will automatically connect him to themselves, or someone they know. That way, it becomes more shocking at the end when the discovery of the sniper’s dead brother is revealed. O’Flaherty is also limiting the point of view by not telling us the feelings of the Republican sniper. This allows readers to make our own assumptions of his emotions. The third person point of view lets the reader follow the sniper throughout the whole story and to see and feel the events through his eyes. Therefore, we understand the negative effects of war as O’Flaherty effectively uses a limited third person point of …show more content…
Soldiers are forced to kill whoever is in the way, no matter if they are family or not. In The Sniper, the main theme is that brother is pitted against brother. Because of war, soldiers are worried about their own lives and their enemy, therefore they tend to classify others into either allies or enemies. They become blind to distinguish who it is they might be killing. No thought is given once they see someone that is not on their side. Killing them is the first option that comes to mind. Pulling the trigger is done without knowing who the enemy on the other side of the gun is. The horror of war is that, people are killed. Soldiers do not think about who they are aiming at. When a person believes in something strongly, they are willing to fight for it and do all kinds of things regardless of how amazing or horrible it is. It is these things that lead to
This form of writing appeals to the audience’s emotions by making the connection seem more personal, as if O’Brien is speaking directly to each reader. The constant changing of forms of writing within a single novel is unusual, and sometimes they appear to not make sense. O’Brien uses a variety of writing forms in order to make the novel a “true” war story, rather than a novel for purely entertainment purposes. In this chapter the audience is first told of O’Brien’s purpose within the novel: to feel the way he felt. The sometimes confusing and unexpected changes of forms of writing allows the readers to better relate to O’Brien’s own
O’Brien, Tim. “How To Tell a True War Story.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2003. p. 420-429.
In Liam O'Flaherty's "The Sniper," all of these. are brought to an acute reality in a single war-torn city. Strong cerebral convictions and opposing philosophies, due to which people want to destroy the seemingly “wrong” plague this world and are the ones who are the ones who are the main reason for the plight. To aid in his creation of such emotional conflict, turmoil and plight, the author has portrayed the sniper as a very controversial character in the story. This story is oriented around one character in the Civil War which he should not even be in as he is. mentioned to be a “student” in the story.
Murder is a reprobate action that is an inevitable part of war. It forces humans into immoral acts, which can manifest in the forms such as shooting or close combat. The life of a soldier is ultimately decided from the killer, whether or not he follows through with his actions. In the short stories The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty and Just Lather, That's All by Hernando Téllez, the killer must decide the fate of their victims under circumstantial constraints. The two story explore the difference between killing at a close proximity compared to killing at a distance, and how they affect the killer's final decision.
His quick thinking and desperate attempts to avoid an intricate situation ends with him killing his enemy, but the consequence is later revealed at the end of the short story. O’Flaherty writes, “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face” (4). In other words, the enemy that the Republican sniper shoots at the end of the passage was not only his enemy, but his brother. The action of killing his brother shows that the Republican sniper is to blame because he takes action, without much thought, and does not consider that he is shooting his own flesh and blood. The Free Stater sniper is utterly the same as the Republican sniper because he views his enemy the exact same way. He does not ruminate on whether his enemy lives a different life outside of the war. Another sentence that is prominent in showing the mindset of the snipers wanting to create bloodshed from each other is, “ He must kill that enemy…” (3). O’Flaherty writes this to showcase the Republican sniper’s thoughts and feelings through his elaborate plan to assassinate the opposing sniper. The Republican sniper merely deliberates on how he will eliminate his
As we saw earlier, both authors of both stories were born in different places and did many things. “The Sniper” sets in Dublin, Ireland, during a time of a bitter civil war. It was a war between the Republicans, which wanted Ireland to become ...
The story is written in 3rd person P.O.V as to give an idea of the setting, and as they waged their war the outside person could give unbiased information of which would have been limited if it were to be presented in a 1st person P.O.V. We wouldn't have got an unbiased opinion of the two snipers, which defeats the purpose of the theme.
O Brien 's point of view is an accurate one as he himself because he is a Vietnam veteran. The title of the short story is meaningful because it describes each soldier’s personality and how he handles conflict within the mind and outside of the body during times of strife. The title fits the life as a soldier perfectly because it shows the reality that war is more than just strategy and attacking of forces. O’Brien narrates the story from two points of view: as the author and the view of the characters. His style keeps the reader informed on both the background of things and the story itself at the same
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.
...rtist and just like any artist O’Brien wants to change your mind. He wants you to see the world the way he sees the world. This is his intent to have the reader believe that this collection of memories, feelings, and actions is actually real and in some parts of the story he has the reader believing that they themselves were once a solider in the Vietnam War. Life itself is a lot like how O’Brien describes war. He says “War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is drudgery. War makes you a man; makes you dead” (O’Brien 76). Any well written novel will intrigue a reader because when an author is able to bend in emotions of a real life event with a fictional standpoint of things a story has been written.
O'Brien's choice of character to reflect the novel's major themes was decided by his personal experiences of the war. As a war veteran, during the war there were times when he was strong, times when he was weak, and after the war a time when he was confused. But by writing this novel, O'Brien is able to let out his thoughts, allowing him to objectify his experiences andseparate it from himself. He identifies the major thematic events in his life with various characters in his novel and uses them to discover himself. By including these small introductions in the first chapter, O'Brien provides a road map to the novel which provides blueprints to his life.
“The Sniper” is a short story written by Liam O’Flaherty that was released on January 12, 1923 in an issue of a weekly socialist publication, called The New Leader. It’s a very easy read with a surprise twist at the end that I felt complimented what the author was trying to convey about civil wars. I enjoyed reading this story because of its militaristic and subtle political theme. It shows what humans are when conflict stirs. A huge downside to civil war is brought to the surface with this story’s surprise ending. I would recommend reading this because I believe it really shows the true nature behind wars and the effect it can have upon humans involved in wars. Being threatened for your life, a human can overcome unsurmountable feats with critical thinking and wit, but it’s not without its downfalls as this story shows.
The three character perspectives on war are interpreted entirely differently. Tim O’Brien is illustrated as the most sensitive soldier out of the three. “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole.” (124). Tim’s sensitivity is revealed when he shows how bewildered he is as he stares at the lifeless Viet Cong body.
...f view in this book is first person. O'Brien writes it like a journal of his experience in Vietnam, with him as the person telling the story.
The setting to “The Sniper” plays a vital role in understanding the meaning O’Flaherty was trying to convey. The main character is sitting on a rooftop near O’Connell Bridge in Dublin Ireland. During the Irish Civil War, the river that flowed beneath the bridge, was the dividing line in the Battle of Dublin. From the beginning, when civilians watched the opening attacks from atop the bridge, to the end, when it shook from the final bombing that forced the Republicans to surrender, the bridge was a key factor to the end result of the war. (Black,