“Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.” John Fitzgerald wrote this quote to the UN General Assembly on September 25, 1961. In other words, Fitzgerald is saying that we must stop war because war is tearing mankind apart. This quote sums up what Liam O’Flaherty’s short story, “The Sniper” and Thomas Hardy’s poem, “The Man He Killed” were trying to convey - that war is a terrible thing. The short story and poem are very similar, but also different in the literary devices plot, irony, and theme.
In these two works, there are many similarities and differences in the literary device, plot. A similar plot from both works is, the protagonist is a soldier who had to kill. One example from “The Sniper” showing this similarity
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is, “He must kill that enemy and he could not use his rifle. He had only a revolver to do it. Then, he thought of a plan,” (O’Flaherty, page 208). This is explaining how the sniper had the duty to kill his enemy, but he was only able to use his revolver. As well as the sniper being a soldier who must kill, the protagonist from “The Man He Killed” also shares this trait, “And staring face to face / I shot at him as he at me / And killed him in his place,” (Hardy, Lines 6-8). This quote explains that the soldier killed his enemy while at war. But, there are differences between the two plots. For instance, in “The Sniper”, the protagonist is on a rooftop in an urban setting trying to kill his enemy, who is on a different rooftop. “On a rooftop near O’Connell Bridge, a Republican sniper lay watching,” (O’Flaherty, 206). This quote is saying how the sniper is laying on a rooftop in the city. However, in “The Man He Killed, the soldier is a foot soldier, who is fighting in a country setting. “But ranged as infantry / And staring face to face,” (Hardy, Lines 5-6). This quote explains that he is an infantry, which means a foot soldier, and he is fighting face to face with his enemy. Using this information, we can assume that he is in a battlefield. Thus, these two works are both similar and different through the literary device, plot. O’Flaherty’s short story and Hardy’s poem are also similar and different through the literary device, irony.
These two works are similar through irony because, in both works, if not for war, the protagonist would have been friends with their “enemy”. One quote from “The Sniper” showing this similarity is, “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face,” (O’Flaherty, 208). If it weren’t for the war, the sniper’s brother would still be alive, and they would still be close to each other-they wouldn’t have been enemies. The protagonist in “The Man He Killed” also thinks that without the war, the enemy could be his friend. “He thought he’d ‘list perhaps / Offhand like - just as I - / Was out of work - had sold his traps - / No other reason why,” (Hardy, Lines 13-16). In this quote, Hardy is explaining that the enemy joined the war for the same reasons as the protagonist, and that the enemy could have been a potential friend if not for the war. However, through the literary device, irony, there are also differences between these two works. In O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper”, he uses situational irony when the protagonist ends up killing his brother. “Pressing his lips together, he took a deep breath through his nostrils and fired.... Then when the smoke cleared he peered across and uttered a cry of joy…. The sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face,” (O’Flaherty, 208). These quotes show how the sniper was excited to …show more content…
kill his enemy, only for it to be his own brother. This was the opposite of what we expected to happen, we didn’t expect for the man who was killed to be his brother, therefore creating situational irony. On the other hand, in Hardy’s “The Man He Killed”, verbal irony was used to show how war is an awful thing. “Yes, quaint and curious war is!” (Hardy, Line 17). War by no means is cute and curious, war is a dark, terrible, and scary thing. By saying the opposite of what war really is, the author creates verbal irony. Therefore, “The Sniper” and “The Man He Killed” are both similar and different when it comes to the literary device, irony. O’Flaherty’s short story, “The Sniper” and Hardy’s poem, “The Man He Killed”, are both similar and different when it comes to the literary device, theme.
They are similar in that, both works have a theme that war tears people apart. An example from “The Sniper” showing this theme is, “He wondered did he know him. Perhaps he had been in his own company before the split in the army,” (O’Flaherty, 208). This quote explains that the sniper thinks that the man he shot could have been someone who he used to work with. If it weren’t for the war, none of the people he works with would have been split up among the war. “The Man He Killed”, shares the same theme, that war tears people apart. “I shot him dead because - / Because he was my foe, / Just so: my foe of course he was,” (Hardy, Lines 9-11). In this quote, the protagonist is only shooting his enemy because he is his enemy, even though he could have been a potential friend, he still has to kill his enemy. There is also many differences between the two works based on the literary device, theme. In “The Sniper”, the war not only tore apart people in general, but it tore apart families. “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face,” (O’Flaherty, 208). The war is the reason that the sniper shot his brother, if not for war, the family would be united. In contrast, in “The Man He Killed”, war tore apart the relationship between potential friends. “Just so: my foe of course he was; /
That’s clear enough; although / He thought he’d ‘list, perhaps, / Offhand like -just as I-” (Hardy, Lines 11-14). This quote is explaining that the protagonist thought of his enemy as someone just like him. However, since he was the enemy, he couldn’t have been friends with him. Thus, these two works are similar, but also different when it comes to the literary device, theme. In conclusion, war is a terrible thing. This was conveyed by Liam O’Flaherty’s short story, “The Sniper” and Thomas Hardy’s poem, “The Man He Killed”. Through the literary devices plot, irony, and theme, these two works were very similar, but also very different. Bertrand Russell, a British author, mathematician, and philosopher stated, “War does not determine who is right - only who is left.” War does not solve problems, it kills people.
In both books they share some traits, even though they may not look anything alike they are. both of these novels are dystopian novels and many characters share similarity’s.
War is seen as a universal concept that often causes discomfort and conflict in relation to civilians. As they are a worrying universal event that has occurred for many decades now, they posed questions to society about human's nature and civilization. Questions such as is humanity sane or insane? and do humans have an obsession with destruction vs creation. These questions are posed from the two anti-war texts; Dr Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick and Slaughterhouse Five written by Kurt Vonnegut.
... almost nothing alike from a superficial aspect. The stories have different historical contexts and they simply don’t have much in common to the average audience. It is easy to contrast the stories, but deep within certain elements, the stories can be linked in several ways.
The similarities are prolific in their presence in certain parts of the novel, the very context of both stories shows similarities, both are dealing with an oppressed factor that is set free by an outsider who teaches and challenges the system in which the oppressed are caught.
The underlying themes of the stories are l valid contrasts between the works. In some portions the themes are of the same facets, such as how in both books two men have a direct conflict between
time of their works, they both had many similarities in the theme of their stories and their goals of writing the stories.
Comparing The Sniper and Ambush There are many similarities and differences between the two short stories The Sniper and Ambush. Both short stories have very interesting settings that take place in different places. Ambush and The Sniper also have very similar characters but with very different outlooks and feelings. The two short stories have very intriguing but very similar themes. The settings in the short stories The Sniper and Ambush are very different but have a few similarities.
His quick thinking and desperate attempts to avoid an intricate situation ends with him killing his enemy, but the consequence is later revealed at the end of the short story. O’Flaherty writes, “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face” (4). In other words, the enemy that the Republican sniper shoots at the end of the passage was not only his enemy, but his brother. The action of killing his brother shows that the Republican sniper is to blame because he takes action, without much thought, and does not consider that he is shooting his own flesh and blood. The Free Stater sniper is utterly the same as the Republican sniper because he views his enemy the exact same way. He does not ruminate on whether his enemy lives a different life outside of the war. Another sentence that is prominent in showing the mindset of the snipers wanting to create bloodshed from each other is, “ He must kill that enemy…” (3). O’Flaherty writes this to showcase the Republican sniper’s thoughts and feelings through his elaborate plan to assassinate the opposing sniper. The Republican sniper merely deliberates on how he will eliminate his
...ce, although both writings are interesting in their own ways, the most interesting aspect of both writings together is that they both have a similar plot and theme. It is rare that two
These two films come from entirely different genres, have entirely different plots, and are even based in entirely different galaxies, but the share the theme of the hero’s journey. This concept can be equally applied to nearly every book, movie, and other such works, as long as you dig under the surface and find the meaning beneath. The elements of the hero’s journey are found in both films, and with a critical eye, can be found all around us. This is the classic story of the hero; in every shape and form an author can apply it too.
...ainting symbolize the need for patriotism and unity in a country during war on and off the battlefront. These two prominent texts support each other’s points of fighting for human’s unalienable rights and liberties through writing and visualization. The connection between the to conclude that war may not be just but it is the act of physical force or even any action that can bring together a country and achieve the liberties they deserve. This is a message that can apply to any human today, when someone infringes on another’s liberties then they need to stand up and fight back in order to stop the other from doing it again.
One similarity between the two poems is that they both have titles which express positive feelings about war. However, the titles are both used in different ways; 'Who's for the game?' is an extended metaphor, as it is repeated again during the poem, ‘Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played…’
This essay showed the similarity and difference of the endings in these two masterpieces, and how they shared morals.
The setting to “The Sniper” plays a vital role in understanding the meaning O’Flaherty was trying to convey. The main character is sitting on a rooftop near O’Connell Bridge in Dublin Ireland. During the Irish Civil War, the river that flowed beneath the bridge, was the dividing line in the Battle of Dublin. From the beginning, when civilians watched the opening attacks from atop the bridge, to the end, when it shook from the final bombing that forced the Republicans to surrender, the bridge was a key factor to the end result of the war. (Black,
The basic ideas of the two novels are also similar. They have to do with rebellion against the so-called perfect new world and the sanctuary