The Sniper Character Analysis

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What complications and new characters have been introduced in Section 2? (5-10 complete sentences) “The Sniper” has gotten much more interesting; many more characters have been introduced and the plot has progressed. Tania has been recruited as a sniper by the general, and begins training with Lieutenant Zaitsev. Important supporting characters Tania trains and bonds with are: Tolya (a bushy eyebrowed boy with kind blue eyes) and Lena (a Jewish girl separated from her family). Tania and the rest of the sniper trainees eventually move to join the Stalingrad war effort, encountering German and Russian troops, German and Russian planes, and many German and Russian refugees. Riordan makes a large part of the plot revolve around hardening Tania as a character; for example, Tania cheers when a German …show more content…

Many people often dehumanize statistics read in text book; for example, people may read that sixty million people were killed in World War II. However, they would not process that the sixty million people were people with lives and personalities; “The Sniper” attempted to make people realize that statistics are not just numbers. Supporting this motif, Riordan writes, “If the pianist had popped his head above ground, that same German would not have thought twice about shooting him. Yet, for a brief moment, they could forget war and enjoy music together. War hardens the heart, music softens it” (Riordan 132). Riordan uses humanity’s universal tenderness towards music to humanize both the pianist and German soldier. In the story, this scene causes Tania to realize what she truly is; she is no different from a German soldier. Tania and the reader realize that soldiers are humans with families, friends, and lives; “The Sniper” humanizes soldiers, refugees, and any person affected by war, showing readers that they are not as far from soldiers as they may