The Sniper Violence Quotes

Words: 498
Pages: 2

“The Sniper”, by Liam O’Flaherty is a realistic fiction short story that occurs in Dublin, Ireland. There is a fierce civil war going on, and two snipers go head to head in an intense shoot-out. O’Flaherty uses craft moves, such as foreshadowing and description to show the reader that violence does not solve anything, it only creates regret. A central issue that is clearly seen throughout the story is violence. A model of this is when the sniper is being attacked by an enemy on a truck who is on a turret. The enemy tries to kill the sniper, which is clearly displaying violence. Although, this only leads to more violence, when the sniper takes the life of the man upon the turret with a single bullet. Violence continues to convey when the sniper is shot in his forearm by an enemy sniper. This injures the sniper, moreover the enemy, since the sniper kills the enemy later. These are both acts of violence. The sniper does not want to be a violent person, though. After killing his enemy, the sniper began to curse …show more content…
“He became bitten by remorse. (3)” This quote not only demonstrates the author’s use of personification, but it also shows the theme of the story. The quote creates an image in the reader’s mind, showing how guilty the sniper is actually feeling. O’Flaherty also develops the theme and idea of the story using additional craft moves as well, such as surprise. “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his dead brother’s face. (4)” Towards the end of the story, the sniper finds out that the enemy he kills is actually his own brother. This surprises the reader, in addition to the sniper. This most definitely will build on top of the guilt that is found earlier in the story. It shows that violence really did not solve anything, and that it only made regret. Violence kills his brother and made him extremely