O 'Flaherty's Use Of Suspense In The Sniper'

War has existed for arguably as long as mankind, and many people have seen the effects of war. Although it is very hard for the average civilian to understand the full effects of war, there are many authors and filmmakers who are able to use both their experience and fine techniques to help give a small glimpse into the world both during and after war. Films and texts such as the short story “Sandcastles Overseas”, and the movie American Sniper show the various types of loss that soldiers face both on the battlefield and after through the use of vivid details, and pathos. Although both of these texts are very effective in showing the loss faced by soldiers, the novel Going after Cacciato by Tim O’brien is the most powerful in portraying the

“Combat veterans are often alienated from the world around them and often become as barbaric and savage as those they oppose.”(Harry Siegel 1)Soldiers sent to war are sent with one goal and one goal only, to defeat the enemy by any means necessary, that also results in the mentality kill or be killed. That is the reality of the main character in “The Sniper”, a young man objectified by combat and the unknown. Through the use of irony, characterization and syntax O’Flaherty shows how the unpredictability of war dehumanizes soldiers.

Liam O Flaherty also makes the story good by using suspense in “The Sniper.” The author makes suspense in his story because you always want to know what is going to happen next in the story. An example of suspense is when The Sniper tried to light a cigarette and he has mid thoughts about it. The author makes it seem that he wanted to light it and he didn’t want to at the same. An example from the story is when the author went into the Snipers thoughts,“He paused for a moment, considering whether he should risk a smoke.

“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.

War is a conflict between two nations, states, or different groups. During this conflict many people will fall victim to death; kids will be traumatized, mothers will see their children leave and never comeback. All of these tragic scenarios will occur because leaders of nations or groups have a feeling of aversion between each other. Soldiers train together and gain friendships with each other, later to witness their allies die in combat. In. "All Quiet..." When returning home soldiers may experience PTSD, even leaving war they'll be forever tortured by war.

War, no matter how long or brief, can have a tremendous impact upon a person’s

War can be and has been proven to be a deeply scarring experience for many soldiers. Evidently, nothing can prepare them for warfare, seeing close friends die, and narrowly escaping death themselves. Yet, the worst part of it all is having to live with those memories for a lifetime and the inability to forget. “But the thing about remembering is that you don 't forget” (O’brien 34, 1998). The war which is fought in the minds of soldiers lasts a lifetime, and its effects stretch far beyond the actual battle that is being fought. War can significantly affect a soldier mentally, as seen in the novel “The things they carried” by Tim O 'brien, an interview with Richard Dlugoz, and the poem “Coming Home” by Joe Wheeler.

In the short story, The Sniper, O’Flaherty explored the theme that a person’s desire to live can consume all of his or her humanity. One example of the theme was when the sniper shot and killed an old woman when she told an enemy tank his location. “The sniper fired again. The woman whirled around and fell with a shriek…” Although the old woman was threatening his life by informing on him, killing an old woman in any situation should be a traumatic experience for anyone, particularly a younger soldier, whose face was like a student’s. However, he had shown no hesitation in shooting her. When he put iodine on his bullet wound, he is able to feel the pain because his external sensors for pain have not been numbed by war. By contrast, his internal

Timothy Findley’s The Wars portrays the effects of war on soldiers in battle, as well as the members of family and friends that suffer from loss and insanity. As each character over the progression of the story is exposed to change, the character’s ability to adapt has a significant correlation with their survival, those that can quickly adapt to survive can manage to get by. Soldiers must be able to suppress the extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot overcome these challenges do not survive in war. Murder is quickly pushed out of a soldiers mind, killing others in effort to protect their own life or the life of others around them. Findley demonstrates how war can negatively alter a person’s behaviour. This is seen through

Starting off, the military has brought many innocent men into the hands of war, these wars cause death and infect the purest men with the darkest memories. Before the war, many people can barely stand, their mind sits on the rise of fear of many things, but the main creation of that fear is death. “...Dale to the wars, against their wills… produces a palpitation of the

As displayed in the quote, the sniper, is encompassed in darkness which can be associated with a mood of dark and uncertainty. This category of mood provides the reader with suspense and will foreshadow that this story will be intense with aspects that can be related to a crime or an account of a war time experience.

The Sniper has more suspense because it has at least three conflicts, were as the Flowers has only two conflicts. The Sniper has at least three pieces of suspense, when he lit the cigarette, when he had to kill the enemy with a revolver, and when he found out he had killed his brother. The Flowers has only two pieces when Myop found the dead body, also when she found out the dead man had been hung. If a story has one conflict to lead up to, it will not have as much suspense as a story that has multiple conflicts. The Flowers only has about two pieces of suspense in the story. When Myop first steps on the skull and the text says, “It was then she stepped smack into his eyes.” Additionally, when she finds out he had been hung the text says, “she

The theme of death and violence is another important segment in indicating the evils of war. Each individual is engaged in killing their enemies and struggling for their own lives. As seen through the view of the sniper, the people¡¦s lives are centred around killing and death. Lifestyle, even to the extent of lighting a cigarette becomes risky and could lead to death. Citizens are forced to be locked in their homes for fear of being shot. The incident, where an old woman is hot by the sniper, who is then injured by his enemy is an example of war¡¦s destructive nature. The loss of innocent

Survival and Strife primarily characterizes the protagonists’ struggle to overcome various threats to their well being, as well as manipulating themselves and others, allowing the author to display how people adapt in order to survive in their environment. As depicted throughout many survival and strife stories, the fight against adversity by the protagonist is often a driving point in the plot and a makeup of the genre as a whole. Throughout many survival stories, the protagonist is faced with a great challenge, often resulting in life or death. In “The Sniper”, the nameless soldier comes in close encounters with the face of death. In order to survive, he had to kill his own brother in order to save himself as, “the sniper turned over the

It is a clear demonstration of the effects of war upon an individuals mentality and psychological stability, showing how the power violence that is an inherent part of war has an addictive quality that leaves soldiers unable to settle into a civilian lifestyle and often being violent to those around them, creating continuous distraction even after the war is