Liam O 'Flaherty's The Sniper'

Civil war strips people of humanity, family, and even country. Ireland has been tarnished by war since Ireland became a country. Liam O’Flaherty, an Ireland native, wrote the short story “The Sniper” during Ireland’s civil war, and O’Flaherty’s anti-war stance is clearly visible. O’Flaherty stands strongly against the idea and action of war, believing terrible things will happen. Therefore, through symbolism, setting, and characterization, O’Flaherty shows that war ends in the death of innocent lives.

O’Flaherty uses the symbolism of a cigarette to show that with war, innocent lives are lost. Near the beginning of the story, the Republican sniper “struck a match” and then “a bullet flattened itself against the parapet.” The sniper chose to take the risk of lighting a cigarette, causing him to be shot at. This decision to light a cigarette shows how the smallest, most insignificant choice, can lead to someone

The Republican sniper in the beginning was, “too excited to eat.” Through this characterization, O’Flaherty shows the readers that before a battle starts, soldiers are not worrying about harming people, they are just excited to kill the enemies. When the sniper, “fired again” and the woman, “whirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter.” The author makes the sniper casually kill an innocent woman, and never forms the emotions of the sniper, leading the readers to believe that the sniper does not care. Later on though, after the sniper kills his enemy he, “threw himself face downward onto the corpse.” The sniper clearly does not feel any remorse about killing innocent lives, but feels extreme remorse and curiosity for the sniper he killed. The use of characterization of the Republican sniper display how innocent lives being lost are lesser than people that the sniper knows