Essay Comparing The Sniper And Horseman In The Sky

“The Sniper” and the “Horseman in the Sky” consist of two extremely meaningful characters. Carter Druse, a young wealthy Virginian, and a Republican sniper, have various similarities and differences on their ways of handling their conflicts. In these two short stories they are both young snipers. Beside, having the same occupation, as being a sniper, they both are faced with the same conflict… killing a family member. Carter Druse, a sniper who is fighting for the Union, while his father is fighting for the Confederates, is eventually faced with a unimaginable decision to kill his father. Carter’s father states in the last conversation they had, “Well, go, sir, and whatever may occur do what you conceive to be your duty”(2/6). This foreshadows, …show more content…
After examining the body, the Sniper soon uncovers his brother. “He decided that he was a good shot whoever he was. He wondered if he knew him. Perhaps he had been in his own company before the split in the army. He decided to risk going over to have a look at him”(166). At this time the Sniper, didn’t know who he shot, but he had a feeling that he probably knew him before the start of the Civil War, only to find out it was his brother. These characters are surely similar to each other, but they hold their differences in the way they approach there appalling conflicts. Carter hesitates when he was about to shoot the enemy on horseback considering when the enemy turns his head, Carter stared directly into his father’s eyes. As stated, “ A touch upon the trigger and all would have been well with Carter Durse. At that instant the horseman turned his head and looked in the direction of his concealed foreman- seemed to look into his very face, into his eyes, into his brave, compassionate heart” (3/6). The author did not directly tell the reader that the man on the horse was Carter’s father, but the reader inferred though Carter and the horseman’s connection, that it had to be