Liam O Flaherty The Sniper

There are two types of people that fight in wars; those who consider their patriotic duty an honor and those who entered the war by force. In 1990, twenty years after returning from the Vietnam War, Tim O’Brien published The Things They Carried, a disturbing and remorseful collection of short stories that gives detailed, yet fictional, accounts of the horrific events that occurred during the war. Later in 2012, after his tour of duty, Chris Kyle released American Sniper, a humble and passionate memoir that describes what Kyle had to face during his tour. While The Things They Carried utilizes symbolism and similes to inform the reader about the horrors of war, American Sniper uses flashbacks and imagery to demonstrate that some people “come alive” during the war.

The theme of how war can tear apart families in “The Sniper” first appears at the start of the book when he shoots a woman. First, Dublin shoots a woman walking in the open field. The text says, “The sniper fired again, the woman whirled around and fell with a shriek and into the gutter.”The woman the sniper shot could have been a neighbor or friend because this took place during civil war. In civil war, the country divides and goes to war.

In the poem, the speaker talks about the looter he murdered, the memories and guilt that has consumed him since. “. I swear I see every round as it rips through his life – I see broad daylight on the other side.” uses metaphors and visceral imagery to show he can clearly recall the bullet holes he made, having been constantly played over and over again in his mind. “Then I’m home on leave.

In this suspenseful short story, “The Sniper”, by Liam O’Flaherty, two snipers from opposing sides are fighting against each other. Set during the Irish Civil War, this story includes a Republican Sniper and a Free State Sniper, from opposite sides of the war. The suspense in this story is built through multiple ways using pacing and timing. The author, Liam O’Flaherty uses timing and order of events together to create a lot of suspense throughout “The Sniper”.

The sniper was scared to shoot the other person. “He was frightened back to his sense but the shock. His nerves strayed,the cloud of fear scattered from his mind and he laughed.” Being a sniper you are supposed to be able to not show emotion, but the sniper did. He was somewhat nervous and maybe scared, but then he build up the courage to fire. He fired and all signs of emotions and fear vanished it was

A historical allusion lies in this text as a reference to the Irish civil war between the Republicans and the Free Staters. “The Sniper” takes place in Dublin, Ireland, but this means nothing unless it takes place like it does during “…the Irish civil war of the early 1920s” (Korb 225). This allusion to the civil war in Ireland acts as a great reference to history while trying to communicate the idea of how civil war divides an entire country as a whole. The reason that this allusion communicates so well lies in the fact that it brings the mind to reality, instead of viewing “The Sniper” as a made up story. In this story exists a situational irony that comes across as the biggest point of the story, in which a sniper kills his brother. Out of the entire story the biggest point “…emphasizes one of the greatest ironies of civil war: Brother is pitted against brother” (Shuman 3). This acts as situational irony because no one expects that the enemy sniper could turn out as the brother of the Republican sniper. This irony shows how war does not only affect the soldiers but their families as well because they have to suffer the death of their children. Finally, the fact that “The Sniper” takes place in Dublin at the Four Courts represents with imagery what happens there, how civil war destroys the people’s history and culture. The fighting of the Irish civil war takes place in the streets of Dublin for a while and “…around the beleaguered Four Courts where the heavy guns roar[]” (O'Flaherty 1). The way that this shows how the entire country becomes affected, exists in how the Four Courts lay under siege with cannons firing around them. The people’s culture and history becomes destroyed by being under siege and thus indirectly does hurt the people of Ireland. Allusion, situational irony, and imagery all assist the message that civil war affects the

Flaherty's, “The Sniper” represents the pain, physically and mentally war inflicts on a soldier. The short story takes place at night in Dublin, Ireland at night, during the Irish Civil War. There are two sides that divide Ireland in half. They are the Free-Staters and the Republicans. The story starts with the Republican sniper eating on a rooftop. He decides he wants to light a cigaret even though it might be risky. As soon as he lights the match he hears gunshots and hides. He looks up and the enemy across the street fires at his head, the sniper dodges it. Then, an enemy car rolls down the street. A woman comes down to the car to tell them where the Republican sniper is. The man opens the turret of the car and the sniper immediately shoots

War can have many extremely harmful effects on nations and the citizens of those nations. Civil War, however, can have especially harmful effects on families. For example, in Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper”, O’Flaherty uses diction, imagery, and an internal conflict within the main character to convey the harmful side effects of civil war on people and families. O’Flaherty’s use of imagery in “The Sniper” conveys the harmful effects of war on people by presenting the audience with images of death. In the story, the sniper waits on top of a building for his targets to arrive.

“The Sniper", in my opinion, is about how ruthless and cunning a war is, especially civil wars, such as the civil war that took place in Ireland that this story focuses on. I say this because this story portrayed a sniper that eventually killed an old woman and even his brother. Not only this, but in the process of killing his brother he even faked his own death to trick him. In the book the main character, the sniper, shows a severe feeling of guilt, which points even more to main of idea how awful war is.

The snipers Journey in war was necessary to discovering that war pushes people to enforce brutality and violence on themselves and those they fight against, having no opportunity to shine compassion on one another. War kills innocent lives and tears apart families leaving only the feeling of hate, anger, and grief.

The short story “The Sniper,” by Liam O'Flaherty uses irony and characterization to show that in a civil war, no matter who wins, everyone loses in the end. The short story “The Sniper,” by Liam O'Flaherty, revels that in a civil war, no matter which side wins, everyone loses in the end through characterization. Towards the conclusion of the story,

He sends a bullet past his enemy’s head. On the empty streets, the Sniper was curious to see who he had shot, so he takes a look, but a machine gun had opened fire on him and had missed him. He drops to the pavement and had laid next to his enemy, he had stared into his dead brothers

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 .

"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.

“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.