Liam O Flaherty's The Sniper

A person goes into war unprepared to deal with the aftermath of killing a person. In Liam O’Flaherty’s short story “The Sniper,” the plot is a troublesome event for a republican sniper in the Irish Civil War. A Republican sniper is set on a mission to kill his enemy. He found out he shot his brother. In Liam O’Flaherty’s short story “The Sniper,” the characterization of the sniper shows that risk-taking can indicate regretful outcomes. These regretful outcomes changed how he looked at war, making him hate war and show extreme remorse. The author uses characterization to show the sniper is a risk taker. The sniper starts to think to himself, when he first arrives at his sniping spot, whether he should light a cigarette even though the enemy might see him: “He paused for a moment,

He decided to take the risk” (O’Flaherty, 1996, p. 1). The Sniper chose to smoke because he knew the enemy was already waiting for him. The Sniper did not eat because of his nerves. People smoke to calm down, the Sniper took this risk to smoke as a way to calm his nerves. The sniper regretted lighting the cigarette because he ended up getting shot. The sniper takes this risk to get a visualization of how to take down his enemy. The sniper makes impulsive decisions, despite beneficial or disastrous consequences, to ensure he stays alive to finish his mission. The sniper is thinking of a ruse to get out of danger. The Sniper takes off his cap and puts it over the parapet. The enemy immediately shot at the cap. The sniper proceeds to play dead, making the enemy think he killed the sniper: “Crawling quickly to his feet, he peered up at the corner of the roof. His ruse had succeeded” (O’Flaherty, 1996, p. 1). The sniper is in danger; he needs to find a way out. The sniper is willing to die to finish his mission, but more selfish to make sure the other person is dead. Even something drastic or unlikely to work, like his