“The Sniper,” by Liam O’Flaherty is a short story of a Republican sniper and his struggle for survival during wartime. The story details the civil war involving the Republicans and the Free Staters in Dublin, Ireland. The distinction between Republicans and Free Staters is their opposing view on the separation and unification of Ireland. The Republicans favored the unification of Ireland ;whereas, the Free staters did not (2011, June 1). Liam O’Flaherty served in the Irish Guards and was no stranger to the devastation of war (2015). In the story, the civil war divided families, brother v. brother, each fighting for a cause they believed in. The writings of Liam O’Flaherty in “The Sniper” indicate his disillusionment towards war. The story begins in the cover of darkness, on a rooftop in Dublin, Ireland. A Republican sniper, fighting in the Irish Civil War, contemplates the risk of lighting a cigarette, knowing that the flash of light could potentially expose his position. He decides to take that risk and reveals his position to an enemy sniper on an adjacent rooftop. This exposure was confirmed when a bullet flew by his head barely missing him. The plot thickens when the Republican sniper watches an armoured vehicle come down the street and is approached by an elderly woman …show more content…
He described the thoughts and feelings of the sniper but did not do so for any other characters. When O’Flaherty describes the snipers injury, he details the intensity of pain he felt. He had to grind his teeth to overcome the pain. Immediately after the enemy sniper was killed, O’Flaherty describes the sniper as talking gibberish and cursing himself. The author attempts to give the reader a candid view of the harshness of war. Most readers feel pity for the Republican sniper when they are told he killed his own brother, a devastating turn of events for someone who was just celebrating a
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.
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 ...
After watching the movie and then reading the book American Sniper I noticed a few different things. Comparing the two and thinking about the similarities and differences. There are not many differences from the movie American sniper and the book American Sniper except that the book talks about his childhood life more. The comparison between the two is interesting because Chris Kyle wrote one while other people directed the other.
The basic plot of the story is based during an evening within the Irish civil wars. It tells of a republican sniper sitting on a rooftop and neutralising enemy units as the cross a bridge. When a free-states sniper shows himself on an opposite roof they wage a fierce and innovative war to see who would end up the better. Eventually the republican sniper gains the upper hand and after taking a bullet in the arm destroys the worthy opponent. After a curious inspection to the identity of the enemy sniper he finds himself looking into the eyes of his dead brother.
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.
American Sniper is a heart-wrenching piece about a man who was willing to sacrifice his life for his country. Written primarily by Chris Kyle, the deadliest sniper in American history, this memoir is interspersed with revealing excerpts told by his wife, Taya. This literary device, known as “change in narrator,” distinguishes his work from others’. Kyle demonstrates his style through his use of change in narrator; this provides greater emotional context, examines different perspectives, and enhances reader understanding.
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.
In conclusion, the author’s use internal conflict, mood shifts, and imagery to convey how dehumanizing effects of war can change a person, also one’s relationship with loved ones. The author’s use of mood shift in the story foreshadows that the sniper will hurt or even kill relations with someone, but this comes to be known that it will come back to heart him more than it did the other person. As at the start is war foul and cruel as we thought or is it uses as humans that make war such evil things.
"There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful thananything that bleeds. Don 't wait until you break. - Laurell Hamilton" This is oftentimes the sentiment felt by soldiers who have served in active duty and have been witnesses to tragedies that leave them emotionally scarred. The Clint Eastwood directed film, American Sniper is amovie that features the real life tragedy of American soldier, Chris Kyle, who served in theUnited States military as a Navy Seal, which is an elite group (Kenny, 2014 and Treitschke,2015). His story is unique in that he himself suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD), but as he worked to recover, he valiantly served again by helping fellow soldiers withPTSD ("Chris Kyle," 2013), and was senselessly gunned
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.
These instances contribute to his emotional turmoil and hatred towards the Vietnam War. The deaths became constant, and most would learn to conceal their emotions on the subject. One day the Alpha Company was traveling from one village near Pinkville to another. Passing by a herd of cows and many young boys in a field, the soldiers took this opportunity for target practice, just like at Fort Lewis. O’Brien did not shoot, but did so without protest. Amazed at his comrades for their actions and outward pleasure by the smiles on their face (pg. 139). Emotionally the war is changing these men, making them numb to the fact of death, and others who watch and wonder are still apart of the overall effect. He mentions on page 81 that O’Brien has even found himself not knowing when people arrive and when others die. The emotional turmoil has affected him and his officers tremendously in the fact that they have all learned that the death of the vietnamese and possibly of their own, are just apart of the war (pg. 141). Mad Mark, the platoon leader, is described to have no-fear or in other words “insanely calm.” This emotionlessness is apparent when he flaunts a ear he just cut off a person he killed. The other soldiers giggle and find his stunt as amusing, all together confirming that the continuous death has damaged his
In conclusion, the Sniper is, interestingly, a complete contradiction in himself. He is both experienced and amateur, cold and emotional, lusting after war and hating it, self-assured and vulnerable, and logical and mad. This stark paradox may create much of the inner conflict that goes on within the Sniper, and also reflects the outer conflict of the Irish war- a war where both sides are essentially opposing parts of the same whole.
An example of suspenseful writing in the story was when the enemy sniper shoots the Republican sniper. “Suddenly from the opposite roof a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with a curse. The rifle clattered to the roof. The sniper thought the noise would wake the dead. He stooped to pick the rifle up. He couldn 't lift it. His forearm was dead. "I 'm hit," he muttered.” This Short story can show how sudden things can change, and how scary it can be trying to figure out what to do next. Mr. O’Flaherty tells his short story to inform others how difficult and scary war can be when someone gets shot at or wounded. In his short story he also shows how fast and smart you have to be, and know how to take care of yourself if something happens. In the story, after the sniper got shot in the arm he knew how to temporarily fix it. “Then taking out his field dressing, he ripped open the packet with his knife. He broke the neck of the iodine bottle and let the bitter fluid drip into the wound. A paroxysm of pain swept through him. He placed the cotton wadding over the wound and wrapped the dressing over it. He tied the ends with his teeth.” In war anything can happen at any certain
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,