preview

The Sniper By Liam O ' Flaherty

Decent Essays
Written in 1923 by Liam O’Flaherty, The Sniper is a gruesome short story that is narrated in the third person point of view. I decided to analyze this short story because this introduction had caught my attention unlike other short stories that I had read. I enjoy to read stories that are exciting and give you thrilling rush to keep reading. I enjoy reading mystery, warfare, and horror novels, because you really never know how much the plot can deviate, that can relate to action thrilling movie genre, as well as O’Flaherty imaginative use of technique that the best of his reliance reflects in his writings. Liam O’Flaherty was born in distant village in Gort na gCapall, on Inis Mor which is one of the few Aran islands, living a very…show more content…
This is where I can see that the author is transitioning a calm night into the war thrilling story it is, who would risk their life to smoke a cigarette? Anyways, the reader doesn 't fully comprehend why the soldier decided to take the slightly risk of being spotted. Before he knew it “Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof”, the narrator begins to explain that the soldiers “heart beat faster” wanting to do something but can’t because “it was useless” against the armoured vehicle(Paragraph 4, line 2). At this point the reader can sense the amount of adrenaline going through his body, the narrator explains that he’s “swore softly” and then “crawled away to the left” and now he’s on full alert looking for the shooter(Paragraph 4 line 4). Honestly believing that he had risked his life to smoke a cigarette, yet then the reader can understand that the risk is worth it in the war. The reader can imagine what the soldier is going through in their head, this helps the readers understand the emotions in the stories without it actually being said. The tone is practically exhilarating and dramatic as the narrator navigates the main character through the story, until the very end where all the odds turned against him. The narrator made his act of survival as defensible and inevitable for doing what he had to do, “He became bitten by remorse” and “cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody” shows that main character is going through
Get Access