Liam O 'Flaherty's The Sniper'

Civil war strips people of humanity, family, and even country. Ireland has been tarnished by war since Ireland became a country. Liam O’Flaherty, an Ireland native, wrote the short story “The Sniper” during Ireland’s civil war, and O’Flaherty’s anti-war stance is clearly visible. O’Flaherty stands strongly against the idea and action of war, believing terrible things will happen. Therefore, through symbolism, setting, and characterization, O’Flaherty shows that war ends in the death of innocent lives.

O’Flaherty uses the symbolism of a cigarette to show that with war, innocent lives are lost. Near the beginning of the story, the Republican sniper “struck a match” and then “a bullet flattened itself against the parapet.” The sniper chose to take the risk of lighting a cigarette, causing him to be shot at. This decision to light a cigarette shows how the smallest, most insignificant choice, can lead to someone

getting hurt in war. O’Flaherty adds that, “The sniper fired again. The woman whirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter.” By adding this to the story, O’Flaherty establishes just how much death is in war, especially innocent deaths. The symbolism of a cigarette being lit in the midst of battle shows how small decisions during war can lead to the loss of innocent lives.
O’Flaherty uses the setting of civil war stricken Ireland to show that war and fighting are a serious problem, and will end in the deaths of innocent lives. Ireland is described early in the story as, “Dublin lay enveloped in darkness”. The description of Ireland provides the reader with a sense of foreboding that something terrible will occur. O’Flaherty also adds that the other sniper comes from the, “opposite roof”. By writing the other sniper to be on the other roof, the author creates the two snipers to be so close to one another. Through this effect O’Flaherty establishes Ireland to be dark and close in proximity, leading the reader to continue to feel that sense of foreboding. At the end of the story the Republican sniper’s teeth, “chattered”. The sniper’s teeth chattering ascertains that the air is cold and also that he regrets killing the people so much, that an intense chill came over him. The use of the setting within “The Sniper” shows the effect of lives being lost, by enemies, companions, and even people the sniper doesn’t know.
O’Flaherty’s characterization of the Republican sniper demonstrates how innocent deaths do not bother soldiers, but people they know overwhelm their emotions with grief.

The Republican sniper in the beginning was, “too excited to eat.” Through this characterization, O’Flaherty shows the readers that before a battle starts, soldiers are not worrying about harming people, they are just excited to kill the enemies. When the sniper, “fired again” and the woman, “whirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter.” The author makes the sniper casually kill an innocent woman, and never forms the emotions of the sniper, leading the readers to believe that the sniper does not care. Later on though, after the sniper kills his enemy he, “threw himself face downward onto the corpse.” The sniper clearly does not feel any remorse about killing innocent lives, but feels extreme remorse and curiosity for the sniper he killed. The use of characterization of the Republican sniper display how innocent lives being lost are lesser than people that the sniper knows

intimately.
Through O’Flaherty’s use of symbolism, setting, and characterization, he conveys how innocent lives, and therefore deaths, are considered lesser in war. O’Flaherty symbolizes this sentiment to warn readers of the danger of war. The author uses setting and characterization to emphasize how war will just end in innocent deaths, and how the person who kills the innocent does not care at all. While some people still do not see how war is not bad and that it is a necessary evil, O’Flaherty recognized how war solves nothing and just ends in death, the deaths of people who are not involved in the war in the first place.