Sniper Analysis In the midst of war, a soldier may find the right thing to do lying somewhere between life and death. In the midst of war, a soldier’s duty is to protect his country at any cost. Instinct takes over and erases the sense of morals a soldier has, as it is simply kill, or be killed. The short story, “The Sniper”, by Liam O’Flaherty, depicts the conflict of a Republican sniper caught in the separation of his country during the Irish civil war. O’Flaherty sets the story in the heart of Dublin, Ireland between the years 1922 and 1923, during the prime of the war. The beginning of the war started with the Anglo-Irish Treaty. “The treaty effectively confirmed the partition of Ireland, setting up the Irish Free State in the south
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Without hesitation the sniper swiftly discharges two shots, killing the woman and a machine gunner who appeared out of the turret of the armored vehicle. Instantly, the enemy sniper shot once again, this time hitting the sniper. The right arm of the Republican had been injured and was limp with pain. The sniper quickly devises a plan. He sticks his helmet up over the rooftop and a bullet instantly pierces it. He drops the helmet and his rifle into the street and hangs his arm over the side of the roof. His plan works. The sniper unholsters his pistol and shoots. The enemy then drops into the alleyway, dead. Upon reaching the body, the sniper is faced with shock as he stares into his brother’s dead eyes. In the story, O’Flaherty describes the sniper with the face of a student, suggesting that before the war, he was as average as any other human. However, in the short time since the beginning of the war, he had already seen much that affected the way he viewed the world around him. As illustrated in the quote, “ His face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic. They were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.”, O’Flaherty shows the transformation a person goes through in becoming a
Without hesitation the sniper swiftly discharges two shots, killing the woman and a machine gunner who appeared out of the turret of the armored vehicle. Instantly, the enemy sniper shot once again, this time hitting the sniper. The right arm of the Republican had been injured and was limp with pain. The sniper quickly devises a plan. He sticks his helmet up over the rooftop and a bullet instantly pierces it. He drops the helmet and his rifle into the street and hangs his arm over the side of the roof. His plan works. The sniper unholsters his pistol and shoots. The enemy then drops into the alleyway, dead. Upon reaching the body, the sniper is faced with shock as he stares into his brother’s dead eyes. In the story, O’Flaherty describes the sniper with the face of a student, suggesting that before the war, he was as average as any other human. However, in the short time since the beginning of the war, he had already seen much that affected the way he viewed the world around him. As illustrated in the quote, “ His face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic. They were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.”, O’Flaherty shows the transformation a person goes through in becoming a