Symbolism Of War In The Odyssey And Ambush

Someone once said, “War is a curse on humanity that never ends.” Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper, Homer’s “The Odyssey”, and Tim O'Brien's “Ambush” show that war is a curse in different ways. Firstly, Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper” shows the first part of the the curse of war: war tears families apart. In “The Sniper”, a young sharpshooter faces off against his target, another marksman. The sniper gets shot in the arm, but manages to kill his target using his revolver. Upon descending from the rooftop, the sniper decides to see his target’s face. “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face” (O’Flaherty 10). The sniper shows that war curses humanity by ripping families apart. Families are often split during war, especially in civil wars.

Members of a family would usually not divide, but the curse of war makes them chose sides. Similarly, war gives mankind justification for murder and looting. In Homer’s “The Odyssey”, Odysseus and his crew are overconfident and hyped up after winning the Trojan War. They sail to the far shore of Ismaros where the Cicones live. As Odysseus recounts, “I stormed that place and hilled the men who fought / Plunder we took, and we enslaved the women / to make division equal shares to all” (Homer 152-154). War curses Odysseus’ crew to be arrogant and murderous, even though the crew could have been grateful and guest-like. They break the law of hospitality without batting an eye because the recent war made them feel they could kill whoever they wanted. People have a tendency to abuse power, and the power to take someone else’s life is one of the most easily abused. War curses mankind to be jealous and murderous, as proven by Odysseus and his crew. Likewise, this wanton murder leaves lasting moral injuries in the minds of the