Situational Irony In The Sniper

656 Words3 Pages

The Sniper In war, you many never know who could be on the other side, previous comrades or even family. When in war, sides must be chosen on which side to fight on, although it may even go against who you are close too. In many lifetimes, especially this one war is a common enemy, it may not be on home land, but soldiers fight over seas. In The Sniper, the war had changed this man on the roof; he had become unaffected by death with deep thoughtful eyes being his proof. Death is one of the most common factors of war; it is either kill or be killed. No matter what side is chosen that side is what is fought for, and it is what you give your life for. The Sniper tells a story on war, that no matter whom you are up against, the war itself kills those you love. …show more content…

At the beginning of the story, there is obvious external conflict between the men fighting from separate roofs trying to kill each other. There is little to no guilt in these parts, just the overwhelming goal to kill the enemy on both sides of the spectrum. Then when the man going against the sniper tricks the man into believing he is dead, he takes the opportunity to kill him with the revolver in hand. The man felt an internal conflict with wanting to know the man he killed. When wanting to see who he killed, wanting to know if he may have known this man, he turns over the body to find that it was his brother. This situational irony, this unexpected or surprising event, takes the story from being more of a tragedy of war, to a more internal tragedy of guilt for the main character for killing his brother. He will have to live with the action for the rest of his