“The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty is a short story about a sniper in a civil war who was in a standoff with an enemy sniper. The sniper was sniped in the arm by the enemy, and couldn't shoot his rifle. He treated his wound and came up with a plan to trick the enemy into thinking he was dead. He dropped his rifle and hat off of the roof he was laying on, and when the enemy wasn’t suspecting it, he shot him with his revolver. He then went to check the body just to find out it was his brother. 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
…show more content…
This is shown in many ways throughout the story. First, in the beginning, the sniper was shot in the forearm in battle, which made him unable to use his rifle on his enemy, as well as he had to go through that extreme pain while still having to keep his composure and treat his wound, this would be an example of physical pain the sniper would feel. Next, however, he figured out a plan to kill the enemy sniper but still had to watch him die, which if anybody would have to watch a person die in front of them, they would be pretty disturbed. This is an example of the mental trauma that the sniper had to experience. And lastly, once the sniper had gotten to the body, he flipped him over just to see his brother's face. This would be so mortifying to experience. Not only did the sniper have to experience his brother's death, but he also has to deal with the fact that he was the one who killed him. The story “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty, shows a huge part of history that explains how war veterans and anyone that has experienced war, could be suffering from the extreme trauma and pain that war can