Microtheme #1
In Liam O' Flaherty's short story " The Sniper," the author describes the many conflicts that an individual can struggle with during the time of War. Throughout the story the main character, an Irish Rupublican Soldier, is conflicted with the conflicts such as Man Vs. Man as well as Man vs. Self. The scene is set it Dublin Ireland. The country is at civil war and neighbors are fighting neighbors.
War is hell. It causes many individuals to think and act in a way that the normally wouldnt. After a while it begins to take its toll on an individual in more ways than one. The author describes the sniper, "his face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic. They were deepand thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death." The sniper spends his night at his post waiting for action. As night goes on the Republican soldier is shot from enemy fire across the street. Tending to his wound the soldier knows that the only way to escape off his rooftop alive he would need to shoot and kill his enemy. He devised a plan which ultimatly worked. He was successfully able to fool his enemy and kill him with a revolver. Hoever at this point in the story we begin to see a shift in the characters attitude toward the meaning of this war. O'Flaherty says " the sniper looked at his enemy falling and he shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse...HIs teeh chattered, he began to gibber to himself, cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody." Like many others who have experianced war, he struggles because he knows what he has done is morally worng, but at the same time its whats best for the cause. Eventually the solider finds the strength to get up and leave the roof top to venture down to the streets below. The soldier becomes curious with who the man was that he shot and killed. When he fianlly approached the body he realized that he was looking at the face of his own brother.
In Liam O' Flaherty's short story " The Sniper," the author describes the many conflicts that an individual can struggle with during the time of War. Throughout the story the main character, an Irish Rupublican Soldier, is conflicted with the conflicts such as Man Vs. Man as well as Man vs. Self. The scene is set it Dublin Ireland. The country is at civil war and neighbors are fighting neighbors.
War is hell. It causes many individuals to think and act in a way that the normally wouldnt. After a while it begins to take its toll on an individual in more ways than one. The author describes the sniper, "his face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic. They were deepand thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death." The sniper spends his night at his post waiting for action. As night goes on the Republican soldier is shot from enemy fire across the street. Tending to his wound the soldier knows that the only way to escape off his rooftop alive he would need to shoot and kill his enemy. He devised a plan which ultimatly worked. He was successfully able to fool his enemy and kill him with a revolver. Hoever at this point in the story we begin to see a shift in the characters attitude toward the meaning of this war. O'Flaherty says " the sniper looked at his enemy falling and he shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse...HIs teeh chattered, he began to gibber to himself, cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody." Like many others who have experianced war, he struggles because he knows what he has done is morally worng, but at the same time its whats best for the cause. Eventually the solider finds the strength to get up and leave the roof top to venture down to the streets below. The soldier becomes curious with who the man was that he shot and killed. When he fianlly approached the body he realized that he was looking at the face of his own brother.