Contradicting Character of The Sniper Essays

The other sniper is situated on a building on the other side of the street as the Republican Sniper. On top of being shot at, an armored car, of the opposing side, drives up near the Republican sniper’s position. He believes that his position was given up by a local woman who was walking around. The Republican sniper must kill this woman or his life will be in jeopardy. The Republican sniper takes the shot, and kills the woman. However, even after killing the woman, the Republican Sniper is still being shot at. He has to shelter himself, so, making his way to the top floor of the building, he situates himself. The Republican sniper proceeds to have a shootout with the other unknown sniper. The Republican sniper needs a way to kill his opponent, so he devises an ingenious plan. He fakes his death by pretending to be shot in the head. The opposing sniper, thinking he had killed the Republican sniper, makes his way out of his hiding spot. This exposes him, and the Republican sniper has a clear shot. The Republican sniper takes the shot, and sees the body of his opponent falling to the ground. The Republican sniper then goes to examine the dead body of his opponent, and to his horrifying realization, discovers that the man he had just outwitted and killed, was really his brother.

War is something that can change the very principles of a person, it can change a person and leave multiple effects that can last for their entire life. The sniper is fighting in a civil war where friends and family can turn into enemies at a moment's notice. The fight is between the Republicans and the Free Staters, the protagonist is a sniper for the Republicans. Throughout the story, we go into the state of mind of the main character and learn some ramifications that he gained in the war. The text, “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty shows us the physical and psychological results of war, that happens to people.

¨Taking off his cap, he placed it over the muzzle of his rifle. Then he pushed the rifle slowly upward over the parapet, until the cap was visible from the opposite side of the street. Almost immediately there was a report and a cap clipped down into the street. Then catching the rifle in the middle, the sniper dropped his left hand over the roof and let it hang, lifelessly. After a few moments he let the rifle drop to the street. Then he sank to the roof dragging his hand with him.¨ (O'Flaherty 3). This quote shows that The Sniper was able quickly think of a way to fool the enemy sniper in order to kill him. ¨The turret opened. A man´s head and shoulders appeared, looking toward the sniper. The sniper raised his rifle and fired. The head fell heavily on the turret wall. The woman darted toward the side street. The sniper fired again. The woman whiled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter.¨ (O'Flaherty 2). This quote shows that The Sniper was well enough trained, that he was able to take out a man on a turret, and an old woman who had informed the enemies about The Sniper's position. The Sniper had fought off an enemy sniper, an enemy informer, and an enemy on a turret all on his own without any help from anyone

One night he encounters an enemy sniper he struggles in besting, and applauding his marksmanship, he risks his life to go examine the body of the fallen soldier. Upon finding the body, shot and lifeless, he discovers the slain enemy was his brother. But, although the bullet which killed his brother was dispensed by his hands, responsibility for his brother’s death does not fall on him. Not only was he unaware of the enemy’s identity in the darkness of night, it was also his duty to take out opposing forces; he followed through with his

War covets the aspect of man that is man itself, for it craves to morph them into mere objects and targets. For many soldiers, they succumb to such a fate; being depleted their ability to feel immediate emotion, they develop primitive, animalistic urges of bloodlust during a time of bloodshed. The aspects of war gravely impacts a person, and as such can be seen in O’Flaherty’s character “the sniper,” as well as seen in O’Brien’s character “Private Paul Berlin.” The sniper is a victim to the war’s cold, emotionless embrace. A Republican soldier, he is, divided from his brothers in arms on the other side, the ones called the “Free Staters.” Nonetheless, under the circumstances, they all are pawns to Dublin’s chess table of a civil war, being played at the mercy of the war’s

“He felt a sudden curiosity as to the identity of the enemy sniper whom he had killed… Perhaps he had been in his own company before the split in the army.” “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face.” From these quotes we can experience the horror the unnamed sniper feels as he realizes that not only has he killed a man but he has murdered his own brother. The feeling twisted in his heart, sorrow, solemn and regrets.

“Wars never hurt anybody except for the people who died” -Salvador Dali, leader of the Surrealist Movement. In both stories men who are at war are described, both of these men have killed a man who are known as their foes. Both of the men realize that the man they killed could've been a friend, and were someone who really wasn't the enemy. The relationship between these two stories is that war can tear families apart. 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 ways of thinking of military snipers. They can be compared to predators in the wild, a skillful killing machine that kills out of necessity and has the respect of their companions. Snipers can also be thought of as prey. They are given a challenging task that requires skill to elude the enemy and often preys upon their mental toughness. In Boyden’s book Three Day Road the author uses many passages to compare the role of a sniper to the role of both predator and prey in the wilderness. These comparisons help the reader relate to the experiences of two indigenous boyhood friends, Elijah and Xavier as snipers in World War 1. Instead of shooting caribou back home in Canada as boys, they are now shooting German soldiers in the trenches

In “The Sniper” by Liam O'Flaherty, the Republican Sniper is shown as brave, stupid, and sneaky. The Sniper is shown to be scared in the story when he was sniping at the window sniping. “The noise would wake the dead.” This quote shows that The Sniper is stupid because during this part, he is smoking and giving out his position. During the story,The Sniper is also acting dead when he got shot at. He shows that he is sneaky when he moves out of the way to go to another spot. Rainsford shows that he is sneaky during this scene because he took off and hid somewhere else. Then when the smoke cleared, he peered across and uttered a cry of joy. His enemy had been hit. The Sniper is quick ,strong, and creative in the story because he found many ways

“The Sniper” is a short story written by Liam O’Flaherty which shows the reader the psyche of a skilled sniper amidst the chaos of war in Dublin. The Sniper is an extremely complex, and multi-dimensional character, which is why it is difficult to decipher his personality, and how he distinguishes certain situations in such tense times. Throughout the small amount of text, the Sniper portrays several different character traits, both positive and negative. Mentally, he is very professional, but is also often very reckless with his work, not fully considering the potential consequences of his actions. Morally, the Sniper often shows remorse and empathy towards the opposing side of war, but carries significant survivor’s guilt later on.

When someone first enlists in the war, they are fresh,new, and ready to fight for their country. As the years go by, war breaks the soldiers down and turns them into rugged, motionless men. The generals mold them into killers with no feelings and only designed to kill without content. This is true in The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty. The theme of war brings out the worst in people turning them into monsters is developed through three types of conflict: man vs man, man vs himself, man vs circumstances.

     The sniper develops insensitivity to death during the war. When he kills the old woman, she’s trying to run away and isn’t really a threat. He even “utters a cry of joy” when he finally shoots the enemy sniper. This shows how war can get people caught up in the cat-and-mouse “game” aspect of it and forget what they’re actually doing—killing people. People get so caught up in the “game” that they don’t think about the repercussions for their actions.

"The Sniper" places a strong emphasis on the evils of war, and yet paints a vivid image of mankind's qualities and their society. Employing the technique of describing one particular sniper to symbolise a general subject, readers are able to gain a deep insight into the evils of war. In this story, the assembly of setting, contrasting characters and themes of fanaticism and division of loyalties are vital to conveying the horror of war. On the other hand, "The Sniper" also discusses the power of war, depicting it as the decider of life and death for men. Its force is further emphasised when neighbours are turned into enemies under war's influence.

Lastly, the war changed the sniper by misplacing him. The sniper is described as a young person. “His face was the face of a student, thin and aesthetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic.” The use of strong adjectives such as “thin and aesthetic” and “the cold gleam of a fanatic” show how the sniper is misplaced in this environment. Further into the text, youthful guilt became apparent. “The sniper looked at his enemy falling and he shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten with remorse.” This use of metaphor shows the reader how quickly his emotions change, showing his guilt and regret for what he has done. Lastly, the snipers curiosity was influenced, as he felt he needed to find out the identity of his victim. He felt this because of how the misplacement had

Through literature, Liam O’Flaherty, the author of the short story The Sniper, clearly illustrates how horrific and destructive war really is. He illustrates the appalling agony of the Irish civil war through a dramatic story of two brothers against each other in the war. Through the the author's writing, readers can conclude that the theme of The Sniper is that war destroys families. O’Flaherty sets emphasis on this theme by using many strong literary devices. The literary devices used that apply the most emphasis on the theme are situational irony, setting, and the author's use of direct characterization .