Liam O'Flaherty uses similes to enhance the story “The Sniper” by creating mental images and connecting the reader’s experiences to quotes in the story. In the beginning of the story, a civil war between the Free Staters and the Republicans is taking place. A Republican sniper is resting on a roof at night time, and looks over the streets of Dublin. The author states, “Here and there through the city machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night, spasmodically, like dogs barking on lone farms” (213). The shots are fired into the darkness in random bursts, breaking the silence of the night. O'Flaherty then uses a simile to compare the sounds of the shots with dogs barking on lone farms. This can allow the reader to be able to