The Sniper By Liam O ' Flaherty

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.

The Sniper, written by Liam O’Flaherty, is a story about a Republican sniper in the Irish civil war in 1922. This story tells of a night spent on a roof looking for the enemy, the Free-Staters. In this short description of the nights events, the sniper kills 3 people; a soldier, an informer, and finally an enemy sniper on the roof across the road from him. In the end this enemy sniper turns out to be the republicans brother. This story shows the the specific characteristics a sniper must have to carry out their duty. A key moment in this text which influenced the sniper is the Civil war itself.

"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.

War can destroy a man both in body and mind for the rest of his life. In “The Sniper,” 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 Sniper” and “The Most Dangerous” Game are both different stories, written by different authors. Liam O’Flaherty is the author of “The Sniper”. He was born on one of Ireland’s Aran Islands, in a large family. Since the Aran Islands have a tradition of oral storytelling, Liam O’Flaherty’s house was full of different kinds of stories. He also wrote about Irish peasant life and captured the struggles of the Irish Civil War. His best known novel is “The Informal”, and it talks about a betrayal set during the Irish Troubles.

Love, an intense feeling of deep affection. loving someone so much, willing to do anything to make that person or place. Perseverance, Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. The movie of American Sniper was based off of a true story of Chris Kyle. Chris Kyle Joined the Navy Seals leaving his wife and kids to protect his country. Throughout the movie it shows how being faithful and perseverance plays a big role in the world we are living in. Based on the complexity and actions of the characters, imagery, symbolism and the angles the camera took, the movie, “ American Sniper” illuminates and emcopasses a theme of Love and Perseverance.

In “The Sniper”, the main character is thrown into a revolutionary civil war. He’s pressed to make quick decisions off of his training and human instinct. The protagonist in “Ambush” is faced with the same issue, he’s in a bunker on watch waiting for something to happen. He’s trained to react when something does, but his humanly instinct tells him otherwise. Both characters soon make decisions they regret, but can’t take back. “I’ll watch him walk toward me, his shoulders slightly stooped, his head cocked to the side, and he’ll pass within a few yards of me and suddenly smile at some secret thought and then continue up the trail to where it bends back into the fog,” (“Ambush”) said by the protagonist, this clues the reader in on the fact that he regrets his decision of killing the innocent man who may have never harmed him. Albeit someone senior to him told him that it was right and completely justified, he still feels distraught and remorseful about what he had done. “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face,” (“The Sniper”) said

Copious bullets, like that of torrential downpour, reign over the battlefield; a setting in which man created through dispute, engulfs each and every individual caught within it. Some are immediately spun into a downward spiral, while with others, it hits them in the midst -- even if they have built an immunity to war’s ways. Two fictional characters, both sharing a similar atmosphere, experience the true affects to war in their own ways. Although war never changes, the individuals do, no matter the situation. This is exemplified through the fictional tales, told by Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper,” as well as Tim O’Brien’s “Where Have You Gone Charming Billy,” and as the main characters are to each their own story, they bear contradistinction to one another in the aspect of war, personality, and the emotional reactions to war.

This essay will begin by examining the importance of O’Flaherty’s description of the setting in his short story “The Sniper”, and how his description of the setting emphasizes the reality of war. From the beginning of the story, O’Flaherty portrays a dark and dull setting of war. “Dublin lay enveloped in darkness but for the dim light of the moon that shone through fleecy clouds, casting a pale light as of approaching dawn over the streets and the dark waters of the Liffey.” (O’Flaherty) In this passage, O’Flaherty describes the setting of a simple street in Dublin at dawn. This creates a dreary tale to read. The setting in this short story emphasizes how tedious war can really be and how sometimes there can be no action for a long period of time. Usually, when there are wars in movies or novels, the plot does not focus on the

Liam O’Flaherty’s realistic fiction story, “The Sniper,” takes place in Dublin, Ireland during a civil war. In the story, a Republican Sniper is stuck on a roof with enemy snipers surrounding him. He shoots two enemies down before he is shot in the arm causing his rifle to brake. Now he must find a way to make a hard shot in order to kill the enemy with just a revolver and a hurt arm. By using word choice and sensory details O’Flaherty demonstrates the theme that actions have serious repercussions.

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

American Sniper by Chris Kyle, is one of the most accurate depictions of the life in special

The reader will get an increasingly detailed image of how the soldiers emotionally respond to the happenings throughout the war due to this composition.

The story that this book tells is the personal story of the deployment of Nicholas Irving aka ‘The Reaper’ a Ranger sniper during a 100 day deployment to Afghanistan, during which this sniper has 33 confirmed kills. The author tells us of his feelings and his actions during the various encounters, and while he does not tell the story of each and every one of his kills, it shows stories of how the modern battlefield works in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.

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 .