The Sniper Theme Essay

Throughout the story the theme that actions have serious consequences is evident. In the moment the sniper is ready and eager to shoot at the enemy. But after the moment is over, the sniper realizes just how awful his actions are.

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.

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

Symbolism is also used in “The Sniper” to represent a possible theme. Liam O’Flaherty uses a street between the two snipers to show that a possible theme is that war separates family. The story takes place in the middle of a civil war in Ireland. The protagonist is a sniper across the street from an enemy sniper. The enemy sniper is his brother, and it is unknown until the very last sentence. By including a minor detail such as a street, the author is able to both further develop the setting by showing it as urban and let the reader pick up on a theme of the

thinks is right or a person who fights because he has to? “The Sniper” tells a story of a sniper who is in a fight between another sniper. The story takes place in Dublin Ireland and is considered Civil War. In ¨The Sniper,” Liam O’Flaherty uses diction, point of view, and plot to create a story of loss, pain , and an intense mood.

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 similar theme is that war changes people and tears them apart due to the pain and suffering of the war. “Cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody”(O’Flaherty 208). The quote helps show that the war may cause you to curse things you never would've before, like, yourself. And from the poem “He thought he’d list perhaps/ Off hand like just as I/ Was out of work, had sold his traps/ No other reason why”(Hardy 16-20). This tells how war can force people to make erratic decisions, it changes your attitude and morals about any situation including joining the army and going to war. The difference between the two stories is that in “The Sniper” it turns him against his family and in “The Man He Killed” it turned the soldier against his friends. To prove this, “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face”(O’Flaherty, page 208). Again this tells of the shock the sniper received when he saw it was his brother he had killed. But in the opposing story “Yes, quaint and curious war is!/ You shoot a fellow down/ You’d treat if met where any bar is/ Or help to half-a-crown”(Hardy 17-20). It explains of how he killed a man that the soldier would have befriended in any other situation. All in all, you can see both the similarities and differences in both stories

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

“The American Sniper” by Chris Kyle is an account of the deadliest American sniper ever, called “the devil” by the enemies he hunted and “the legend” by his Navy SEAL brothers. From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyle's kills (the previous American record was 109). Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan (“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops and stealth positions. Kyle presents the gripping and unforgettable accounts of

One way that O’Flaherty sets emphasises on the theme is by inputting situational irony in the story. The author shows situational irony in the following quote: “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face” (O’Flaherty 265). The reader did not expect for the sniper to have killed any family member. The reader only expected the sniper to have killed any soldier, but the fact that he killed his brother makes the situation extremely ironic. This situation is ironic because no brother should be against each other fighting to death no matter what circumstance or situation it is, but these two were put in that position very ironically. This irony makes the reader feel enraged and resentful towards war because as family should never be against each other regardless, but war has put them in this very ironic position. The fact that the

     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.

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

The theme is one of the most important things in a novel. "You risk your skin catching killers...For what? For nothing. A tin star" (Foreman 307). Kane's friend explains that it's not worth it to catch killers, because there is no reward and no purpose in doing that when they just come back to kill you. "The Most Dangerous Game" however has a different theme. "Twenty feet below him the sea rumbled and hissed. Rainsford hesitated.

American Sniper is based on a book written by Chris Kyle that is a memoir, he talks about what had happen while he was stationed in Iraq, the people he lost, the things he had to go through. Chris Kyle, in the movie it begins with him and his little brother, we see that his father is the abusive type and Chris has always been one to measure up to his father's likings. When Chris’s job of a rodeo clown doesn't work he sees how america keeps having things happen so he decides to join the U.S Navy Seals. He meets his wife, and she sees how slowly but surely Chris starts losing himself in this job he says he does for her and everyone to be free. He sees terrible things happen while he's there, he shoots woman, kids, all to save his men when in the end he loses a lot of men that are his friends. He was so well known as a great sniper that the men in Iraq put a bounty on him and would identify him with his tattoos. He has two kids back at home that he rarely sees while he is making records in the military. After his last nine months, he decides he is done and wants to come back home. When

The Sniper wanted to defend his country for his religion, and other people. In the text it says… “He has a face of a child, thin and ascetic. And that his eyes has a cold gleam. Also the narrator states that his fanatic eyes were deep, and thoughtful. The eyes of a man who is used to death, and despair.