“The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty is a short story about a sniper in Dublin, Ireland, who is trying to win a fight, but the enemy keeps shooting at him. He even ended up getting shot in the forearm due to his clumsiness. So the sniper crafts a plan to take down the enemy, but when his plan goes accordingly, he finds out that the “enemy” was actually his brother. Through the actions of the characters, readers understand that Liam O’Flaherty shows that people make terrible mistakes that lead to regret. At the beginning of the story, the sniper is settling himself onto a rooftop where he is in a very militarian type of stance / position. But, he breaks his very stiff stance to eat a sandwich and drink some water, in the middle of an active battle zone. He decides that it’s worth the risk and, “Placing a cigarette between his lips, he struck a match. There was a flash and a bullet whizzed over his head.” (page 58) It is at this moment that the sniper realizes that if he isn’t very careful, he could end up dead. Due to how his carelessness almost …show more content…
The old lady ends up having alerted the enemy soldier of the sniper’s position, so the sniper kills the old lady, in turn confirming his position for the enemy. He decided that nothing would come of it when, “Suddenly from the opposite roof a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with a curse … He stooped to pick the rifle up. He couldn’t lift it. His forearm was dead. “Blast!” he muttered, “I’m hit.” “ (page 58) The sniper tried to stop himself from being discovered by the enemy, but that ended up alerting the enemy even more. He knew that it was a risk, but he decided to do it anyway, which led to him getting shot in the forearm which made him regret having shot the old lady. This exhibits the idea that people will make terrible mistakes in life that lead to