The literary element imagery is used to transform “The Sniper” into a superb short story. “The Sniper” an account about a young sniper in the Irish Civil War. During the story, the young man is locked in a deadly sniper battle with an enemy sniper. The young sniper eventually shoots the enemy sniper, only to find out that he shot his brother. In the narrative, imagery enhances the audiences’ perspective of the setting, characters, and plot. The Imagery in “The Sniper '' creates a clear picture of the setting within the audience. At the beginning of the story, the author uses lots of vivid descriptions to establish the setting. The Author writes, “The long June twilight faded into the night” (O’Flaherty para. 1). In this singular sentence the author …show more content…
Promptly after the sniper kills his enemy the narrator says, “The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse” (O’Flaherty para. 22). This sentence uses imagery to show that after the heat of battle left, the sniper feels terrible for killing the enemy sniper. Later on in the story the sniper is struck with a sudden curiosity to see his enemy’s face. The sniper bolts across the road and dives by the cold dead body (O’Flaherty). To see his enemy's face, the sniper risks death. The author's use of imagery at this part of the story is crucial as it builds up the climax. When the sniper turns over his enemy's body he sees his brother's face staring back at him. Prior to the identification of the enemy sniper, the audience is on the edge of their seats due to the author's use of imagery. Using flowery language the narrator describes how the sniper is sorry that he killed a man. Employing the use of imagery the author describes the intense curiosity that motivates the sniper to risk death. The details provided by the imagery build up the plot in suspense. Due to the use of imagery, when the story is resolved, the audience is stunned by the