"The Sniper" Liam O'Flahert

Summary:

The short story, The Sniper, by Liam O’Flaherty, takes place during a June night in Dublin, the same time as the civil war, Republicans versus the Free Staters. A Republican,“the Sniper”who carries the trait of being “ascetic”, starts the story by lighting a cigarette which grabs the attention of the enemy, a Free Stater. This event leads to a murderous chase, one trying to slaughter the other.  The enemy, once he sees the sniper, gets in an automobile and heads toward the Snipers territory. Just as things are about to get tense, the Sniper is hit on his arm, which leads to drastic measures in order to prevent any infections; he treats his wound.  This incident results in more revenge and anger to boil inside the boy, which causes him to manipulate a plan in order to get rid of the enemy once and for all.

           The plan consisted of him; the Sniper, placing his hat on his rifle to lure the enemy in. Then when the enemy fires at the hat, he would act dead by throwing his rifle towards the ground. This gives the enemy the illusion of winning. When the enemy is in plain sight, the Sniper would shoot him.

            When the plan begins to take place, the enemy believes it and begins to express multiple emotions. This brings success to the Sniper’s plan because the enemy decides to look over the parapet, which gives the Sniper the chance to shoot the enemy in the head. The winning of the fight brings the Sniper into an unusual euphoria, which is disturbed by the loud gun shot of his own rifle. The ironic turn near the end takes place when the Sniper comes off the roof, and goes to look at the body of the enemy, only to realize the body was of his own brother.          

Theme:

            In the short story, The Sniper, the author, Liam O’Flaherty, is trying to communicate the theme that the aftermath of one’s choice is not always clear. This is shown in the short story when the Republican goes to examine the body of his enemy. There he discovers the identity of the enemy is actually his brother. This is directly related to the theme because at the start he was shown as “fanatic and ascetic,” as in deeply believed that what he was doing was right. Later, after murdering his brother, he begins to realize that the future is unknown. Thus showing the that theme being shown is that the aftermath of one's action is often unclear.