How Does Liam O Flaherty Use Irony In The Sniper

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In “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty, the theme of the tragedy and cruelty of war the dehumanization, the way it breaks families and friends, and the fact that it alters and rids one from the person they were before is conveyed through irony, and the sniper's feelings and actions. For example, the author writes “A man’s.appeared.The sniper raised his rifle and fired.The woman darted towards the side street.The sniper fired again.” Man or woman, young or old, everyone on the opposite side was considered an enemy. To him, those people were just targets, an objective to kill. It highlights how war dehumanizes, in people’s eyes, the enemy. This narrative is further underscored using irony, the irony being that after killing the enemy sniper, our