Liam O Flaherty's The Sniper

War Is Destructive In war, families are torn apart from each other. And then, being separated from each other for so long you can grow apart from one another. In the story, “The Sniper”, author Liam O’Flaherty shows that war can ravage what someone holds most dear and in most cases, that is family. O’Flaherty uses the Irish Civil war as an example in his story because that was his own experience. First, O’Flaherty had the sniper kill the enemy in cold blood. And then O’Flaherty details the remorse the sniper feels as he had somewhat of a connection with whom he killed. This gives the reader the sense that shows the authors imagery, external conflict, and shifting moods act as a warning of the destructive effects that come with war. O’Flaherty uses imagery of a long June twilight fading into night to show the sniper and the enemy are fighting …show more content…
The story has many examples of external conflict and the sniper notes “just then an armored car came across the bridge and advanced slowly up the street. It stopped on the opposite side of the street, fifty yards ahead” (O’Flaherty 2). The story explains in detail with “an informer” that things were about to get ugly. This further proves that unneeded acts of war can lessen each side’s moral which just deepens that destructive effect that follow alongside war. O’Flaherty also uses external conflicts to explain what the destructive effects that follow alongside war can lead to overall damage. This damage could be to one, one’s family, a community, a city and so on. The sniper notes that “the armored car had retired speedily over the bridge, with the machine gunner’s head hanging lifelessly over the turret” (O’Flaherty 2). This shows that three people were injured and killed that day: the old woman, the machine gunner, and the sniper himself further proving the fact that one measly encounter can lead to many other deaths and