The Man He Killed Poem Analysis

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“I shot him dead because- because he was my foe.” This quote is stated in the poem “The Man He Killed” By Thomas Hardy. In war potential friends can be torn apart, you could kill someone you were friends with and the guy you killed may have been family or someone you might have known. These stories both say something about war, how people turn against anyone. In both “The Sniper by Liam O’Flaherty and “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy both use situational irony to prove that anything can happen in the war.

Both “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty and “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy both show similarities and differences throughout the text by using Situational Irony proving that war can tear potential friends and family apart. A
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Also the difference in “The Sniper” is he shot someone that he knew, and in “The Man He Killed” he shot someone he didn’t know. The Republican sniper feels remorse after shooting the other man on the other roof. “The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse”(O’Flarity 208). The sniper was very remorse after shooting the other man, the battle died in his eyes. Also after shooting a potential friend he became very remorse. Another example “But ranged as infantry, And staring face to face, I shot at him as he at me, And killed him in his place”(Hardy 2). Not to mention they were face to face, staring at each other. After shooting him he feels a great deal of remorse. In “ The Sniper” he shot his brother. “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother face”(O’Flarity 208). The sniper turned over the dead body, looked at the face and looked into his brother's eyes. Additionally the man that he shot, could have been a potential friend not a family member. “Had he and I but met, By some ancient old inn, We should have sat us down to wet, Right many a nipperkin”(Hardy 1). He's saying that if they have met in a bar they would have had a cold one, and talked and possibly became friends.In conclusion, “The Man He Killed” and “The Sniper” are two different storylines, both using Situational …show more content…
They both have a difference in “The Sniper” is that war can tear families apart, and in “The Man He Killed” the difference is that war can tear potential friends apart.War is painful,scary, and suffering. “The revolver went off with the concussion and the bullet whizzed past the sniper’s head. He was frightened back to his senses by the shock”(O’Flaherty 208). The Republican Sniper was in his own little world, and suddenly the revolver went off and he snaps back into reality. An example in “The Sniper” the republican sniper shots his brother, and it’s gonna tear the family apart. “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face” (O’Flaherty 208). The republican sniper turned over the body on the ground, and saw his brother face. Not to mention that the the character in this poem went through something almost the same as the Republican Sniper. “I shot him dead because-because he was my foe, Just so: my foe of course he was; that's clear enough; although”(Hardy 3). The only reason he shot the other guy was because he was his foe and maybe they could have been friends. In conclusion, war tears family and potential friends apart. War is also painful, scary and