"Decisions made come with Regret"
In the story, "The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty, the sniper is a dynamic character because his personality initially demonstrates that he is a tough soldier whose job is to kill the enemy; however, he undergoes changes that make him realize that he should not make foolish decisions that he'll regret. The Sniper is a republican soldier who fights in the Civil War, he is used to fighting and looking at death, and because of this, he puts on this "tough soldier" persona. His job as a soldier is to stay in the shadows and not take any risks of being seen by the enemy. Although, he risks this by taking a smoke, even though there are enemies watching: "placing a
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Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof. The Sniper took another whiff and put out the cigarette. Then he swore softly and crawled away to the left" (O'Flaherty, 1). Evidently, the Sniper made a bad decision and backfired on him. By him trying to smoke while he's undercover, he puts himself in a dangerous position, the enemy tried to attack him and found his location. Even though the Sniper is a soldier and has authority, that doesn't mean that he should be going around making dangerous decisions that put him and others in danger. Nextly, an informer comes along and blows the Sniper's cover. She talks to another guy and points to the roof where the Sniper lies. The Sniper is furious that he's been found, since he has to portray himself as "ruthless" and "coldhearted", he had to do something to redeem himself and for him, violence is the key: "the sniper raised his rifle and fired. The head fell heavily on the turret wall. The woman darted toward the side street. The sniper fired again. The women whirled around and fell with a shriek into the gutter. Suddenly from the opposite roof, a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with a …show more content…
Though the Sniper had to make sure that his image of being a "strong" and "heartless" soldier doesn't slip, by killing these people, he isn't considered weak or cowardly. Nonetheless, this backfired on the sniper because all of the chaos led to the enemy taking a shot at the sniper's arm, Lastly, the Sniper has had enough of this war and must kill the enemy. To do this, he uses violence, which he learns isn't the best idea. The Sniper tricks the enemy into thinking he's dead, it would be quite convincing since the enemy already shot the sniper. After this, the sniper takes steady aim and shoots the gun: "The Sniper looked at his enemy and he shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse" (O'Flaherty, 3). The Sniper starts to realize what he's done and feels extremely guilty. He realizes what he's done but doesn't realize who he's killed," the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face" (O'Flaherty, 3). Suddenly, the Sniper killed his own brother. His "tough" character breaks through and now is ashamed of his