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Compare And Contrast A Perfect Day For Bananafish And The Sniper

888 Words4 Pages

Diganta,1
Dipta Sarothi Diganta
ENG3U
Teacher: Miss Amellia
January 18, 2023

War’s Trauma in “A Perfect Day For Bananafish” and “The Sniper”
The trauma of war is a prevalent theme in literature, and J.D. Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and Liam O'Flaherty's "The Sniper" are two stories that effectively depict this theme through their use of symbolism and characterization. By using symbolism to illustrate the destructive nature of war and characterization to convey the emotional and psychological effects of war on the individual, these stories serve as powerful examples of the lasting impact of war on individuals. Despite their different literary techniques, J.D. Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and Liam O'Flaherty's "The Sniper" both effectively depict the destructive and lasting impact of war on individuals through their use of symbolism and characterization, highlighting the emotional and psychological trauma caused by war. In "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" the writer uses symbolism to depict the destructive nature of the war on the individual. Seymour …show more content…

We can see that when the writer wrote, “ He was eating a sandwich hungrily. He had eaten nothing since morning. He had been too excited to eat. He finished the sandwich, and, taking a flask of whiskey from his pocket, he took a short drought”’(Flaherty 1). This passage from the story shows that the sniper's physical condition deteriorates as the story progresses, he is hungry, thirsty and tired. He is also wounded, adding to his suffering. The sniper is a shell of the man he once was, and it is clear that war has taken a physical toll on him. The story is a powerful reminder of the human cost of war and the importance of peace. The writer gives powerful descriptions of the scenes in the story. The language used is descriptive, painting a vivid picture of the protagonist's physical

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In the short story “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty the theme is that war changes human beings to mere objects. The story of “The Sniper” sets in the city, fundamentally in the rooftop and in the streets of the city of Dublin, Ireland.

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His embarrassment causes him to enlist in the military and he ends up serving time in Vietnam. The novel touches on his experiences and bonds with his platoon while serving his time in Vietnam. Throughout the book, Myers shows a realistic depiction of war such as the graphic violence, the inner thoughts of a soldier, and how the platoon struggles to survive. Throughout the novel, Myers utilizes many different ways to portray the realistic depiction of war.

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Even though nothing should come between people, war breaks ties and relationships with people that normally don’t ever break. War splits families, friends, and even countries. The topic of family is different in both short stories, but yet it plays an important role in each story. In “The Sniper”, the man who is the sniper actually shoots his brother during the Irish civil war. The story reads, “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face”(The Sniper 1).

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In the film American Sniper directed by Clint Eastwood and the novel Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, both works exhibit depiction of war through the protagonist. However, each work is portrayed differently as they each show a representation with opposite depiction of war. While one decides to promote war, the other diminish it. In Eastwood’s adaptation of American Sniper, his insight appears as a promotion for pro-war propaganda, in contrast, Slaughterhouse Five depicts ideas that portray the war in a poor light. American Sniper retells the story of Chris Kyle, a Navy Seal who was reported to have 160 confirmed kills.

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This shows the sniper went through his brain and fast forwarded to the future to see what the outcome could have been and then made the choice. He could have been quick to fire, but he thought through it and of the consequences. Another example is “ the sniper lay still for a long time nursing his wounded arm and planning escape” ( Flaherty 5) So meaning he was smart enough to be multi-tasking. He was smart enough to have the resources and the experience to treat his wound.

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At the beginning of the story, the sniper was so excited, he couldn't eat. It was night in Dublin while he was just waiting. The author states,¨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.¨(page 58) This statement infers that the man has killed many people and has no remorse.

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Killing, however, did not come easy to the war hero. He suffered drastically from the obscenities he witnessed during the war, and eventually agonized the consequences of PTSD. While on duty, Kyle witnessed experiences that evidently aided to his condition as “the face of his machine gun partner was torn apart by shrapnel”, he watched a “comrade die when an enemy bullet entered his mouth and exited his head”, and scrutinized a “third friend die when an enemy grenade bounced off his chest and he jumped on it before it exploded in order to save everyone around him” (Bateson). The events that soldiers witness are obvious cases as to

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Soldiers who survives in combat decide to write about their experiences, often as a coping mechanism. War can physically and emotionally change a person. Humanity makes a person feel alive, happy and good-natured however, experiences can alter these feelings. Throughout the pieces, The Things They Carried, Soldier's Home and “We Never Know”, the characters experience the horrors of war

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Through the actions of the characters, readers can clearly understand that Liam O’Flaherty is showing that war is very traumatic and painful to those who experience it. At the beginning of the story, the sniper is in extreme pain after the enemy sniper shoots

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This is just one of many traumatic events that replay in soldiers’ minds. The witnessed horrors of war lead to perpetual impacts on a person. Within The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, he reveals the untold horrors that encompass war which leave lasting impacts, through in-depth descriptions of events, the tainting of morals, and post-war reality. Tim O’Brien uses an in-depth description of events to reveal the horrors of

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By manipulating the war setting and language of the novel Heller is able to depict society as dark and twisted. Heller demonstrates his thoughts of society through the depicted war. In the novel, the loss of personal identity in the soldiers lives. Furthermore, The idea is that supports how much value is placed upon a human life and shows the evils and cruelty of war is related The Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell, in which a soldier who spends his entire life in war only to die the same position he came into the war “fetal” state; just to be disregarded and buried in a whole.

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“His hand trembles with eagerness. Pressing his lips together, he took a deep breath through his nostrils and fired” (208). This quote is showing the nerves and anxiety the sniper had received from out tricking his own brother. The last example in “The Man He Killed” the war had

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War damages a man's soul. Tim O'Brien writes about the horrifying impact of war in his life, and in the lives of his comrades in The Things They Carried. The book shows the stories of O’Brien’s fellow soldiers before, during, and after the war. These short stories that were collected after the war told us the innermost thoughts of various members of his platoon. The soldiers told us how the war impacted them throughout their lives.

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In Liam O’Flaherty’s The Sniper, the main character, a sniper, is in the middle of a civil war in Dublin, Ireland. It is his assigned duty to assassinate anyone on the the other side of the war, no matter who they are. This creates a huge conflict, considering that the sniper ends up killing his brother. This supports the central theme that war is cruel, and this can be supported by the craft elements of the dialogue used and the setting of the story.

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