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Use of irony in heart of darkness
Use of irony in heart of darkness
Irony - Foreshadowing in literature
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War is an ongoing issue that spreads like a cold. “Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.” John Fitzgerald Kennedy stated this to the United Nation General Assembly on September 25th, 1961. War results in death and if we continue this useless act of violence, war will soon deplete the human race. The connection between these two stories is that two men are faced with a conflict and they must kill their foes. In Liam O'Flaherty's “The Sniper” and “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy both show similarities and differences in plot, irony, and theme.
There are many similarities in both “The Sniper” and “The Man He Killed”. For example, both of the men were soldiers in war. In the story the assassin
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In “The Sniper” and “The Man He Killed”, they both felt a feeling of deep remorse following these events. Once he shot the other man, “The sniper looked at his enemy falling and shuttered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse” (O’Flaherty 208). This quote shows that once the sniper shot his enemy, he felt remorse. “You shoot a fellow down / You’d treat if we met where any bar is” (Hardy 18-19). This shows that the soldier was trying to recall if he had once been friends with his enemy whom he had killed in the end. In “The Sniper”, the sniper was related to his enemy whom he had killed. It turned out to be his own brother. “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face” (O’Flaherty 208). The sniper had no idea that the enemy he was killing was his brother. If he had known, he most likely wouldn’t have shot and same goes for his brother. “Had he and I but met / By some old ancient inn / We should have sat us down to wet / Right many a nipperkin” (Hardy 1-4). In “The Man He Killed”, the soldier had thought that maybe if not for war, he would’ve befriended his enemy. To conclude, both of the stories had many differences and similarities involving …show more content…
The theme for both is that war changes people through lots of pain and suffering. “His teeth chattered, he began to gibber to himself, cursing war, cursing himself, cursing everybody.” The sniper, at first, had felt joyous when he shot his enemy, but once the deed was done, he had felt a strong feeling of remorse which had caused pain and suffering. “He thought he’d enlist perhaps / Offhand like just as I / Was out of work, had sold his traps / No other reason why” (Hardy 13-16). The man could have befriended each and every one of the others, but war turns people against each other and causes great pain and suffering. There are also differences. The sniper joined because a civil war was going on in Dublin, Ireland. The soldier in “The Man He Killed” joined because he had nothing left. “Here and there through the city, machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night, spasmodically, like dogs barking on lone farms. Republicans and Free Staters were waging a civil war.” Throughout Dublin, it was brother against brother, literally, fighting in a civil war that tore families apart. The next theme is that war can tear friends apart also. “Yes, quaint and curious war is! / You shoot a fellow down / You’d treat if met where any bar is / Or help to half-a-crown” (Hardy 17-20). This shows that war got in the way of a possible friendship and definite peace and
In the story, “The Sniper”, The sniper showed that he was an intelligent soldier. In the beginning, after Being shot by the enemy sniper the sniper took care of his wound and was able to compose himself and think of a plan. Thinking he had won the battle after the snipers successful decoy the enemy sniper dropped his guard and the second he did the sniper
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
In both stories, people died. In “The Sniper”, the old woman, and the man she informed, as well as the sniper’s brother were killed. While in “The Most Dangerous Game”, Ivan and General Zaroff died.
In the story “The sniper”, the sniper face an external conflict and an internal conflict. His external conflict was the enemy sniper. He saw an old woman heading towards the man in the turret. The old woman was pointing at the sniper. Sniper thought
As the characters are dropped into dangerous settings, so dangerous that it is between life and death. In the stories “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, “American Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty, and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. As the stories are similar they are also different in many ways, such as Setting, Mood, and Conflict. (both internal and external)
One on the differences is that The Sniper takes place in Dublin, Ireland and the story Ambush is in Khe Vietnam. Another difference between the two short stories is that The Sniper takes place on a rooftop near O’ Connell bridge and Ambush takes place in the bushes beside a winding path. “ On a rooftop near O’Connell bridge a republican sniper lay watching.” The Sniper takes place in 1921 and Ambush takes place in the Vietnam war sometime between 1962 and 1972. The two short stories are similar because they both take place at night but Ambush is a foggy, hot night and The Sniper is a dark cold night.
The way the characters change emphasises the effect of war on the body and the mind. The things the boys have to do in the act of war and “the things men did or felt they had to do” 24 conflict with their morals burning the meaning of their morals with the duties they to carry out blindly. The war tears away the young’s innocence, “where a boy in a man 's body is forced to become an adult” before he is ready; with abrupt definiteness that no one could even comprehend and to fully recover from that is impossible. The story is riddled with death; all of the dead he’s has seen: Linda, Ted Lavender, Kiowa, Curt Lemon, the man he killed, and all the others without names.
In the novel, The Things They Carried, the chapter The Man I Killed tells the story of a main character Tim who killed a Viet Cong solider during the Vietnam War. The author Tim O’Brien, describes himself as feeling instantaneously remorseful and dealing with a sense of guilt. O’Brien continues to use various techniques, such as point of view, repetition, and setting, to delineate the abundant amount of guilt and remorse Tim is feeling.
In “The Sniper” the conflict is man vs man, which means main character is tasked with killing his enemy, but it proves to be quite a challenge. Even though there were many challenges the sniper followed through with his job and persevered even after he was shot in the arm. Wanting to kill his enemy, stay alive, and be one step closer to ending the war was his main goals. Being brave, he took off his hat, placed it on his gun, and raised it above the edge of the roof. Instantly the enemy shot at it and the sniper, pretending to be dead, waited until the enemy got up for him to shoot him. He did some quick thinking and, with determination, handled the conflict quite well.
Both the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, and the poem "The Man he Killed" by Thomas Hardy discuss war. Through both the novel and the poem, it is articulated how the soldiers personally feel about the war and their experiences during the war. The protagonist of the novel, Paul Baumer, and the speaker of the poem both share comparable emotions. Both enroll in the war for reasons other than patriotism, their perception towards war is very analogous, they kill their enemy merely to stay alive and they go to the extent of feeling that if not for the war, they could have been friends with their "enemies".
It is apparent that during war time emotions are checked at the door and ones whole psyche is altered. It is very difficult to say what the root causes of this are due to the many variables that take play in war, from death of civilians to the death of friends. However, in "Enemies" and "Friends" we see a great development among characters that would not be seen anywhere else. Although relying on each other to survive, manipulation, and physical and emotional struggle are used by characters to fight there own inter psychological wars. Thus, the ultimate response to these factors is the loss and gain of maturity among Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk.
The story is representing Mr. O’Flaherty and his brother in the war. Liam O’Flaherty was a great author and created many pieces of work that have become very popular since they were published. In “The Sniper”, it shows readers that war only makes people simple objects, how bad it can affect people and the side effects, and some experiences will be with some people till they die. This short story of the two snipers was the story of what happened to Mr. O’Flaherty, and how he got a mental illness from killing his own brother. In “The Sniper”, it can show some of the true horrors that a war can bring into a person’s
The protagonist is faced with similar scenarios as was Kyle, such as the decision of shooting the man on the roof, or letting him go free. Many arguments may be made on what is morally right, but in the end, all that matters is survival itself, and doing what needs to be done. There are no rules in war, therefore all reasoning to what may be moral must be put aside. While this may be the case, human nature will eventually set in, and remorse can flood a soldier’s conscience. This was made apparent when the sniper broke down and cursed the war, providing for a turning point in the story.