The Sniper Compare And Contrast

We all have our own opinions on what is right and wrong and what makes us feel sympathetic or considerate to what is going on around us. No matter how much you dislike or look down on decisions and judgements of your neighbor we all have certain traits that make us resemble others. The Sniper and Lather and nothing else are two different short stories that at first seem completely different, but after looking deeper into them they may not be as different as they may seem. Before comparing these two stories you might ask yourself, How could two different time periods relate to each other? And can places on opposite parts of the world share the same issues? It shows us that in some ways we are all very different but in some ways we are all the

same. One way that we are all alike is that we all create conflict with other people or other groups forming our own opinion or thesis on what we think is right or just. Another entity is that we all have a conscience the only difference is how we choose to use it. Do these two stories have more in common than we think, or do they both stand for their own meaning?

Their are evident similarities that these two stories share helping to build resembling character traits, thoughts and motives.

Three similarities that overshadowed any others were that they both did their job for a reason, they were both republicans, and even though these stories occurred on opposite parts of the world they were both in war. In our society working plays a big role in sustaining our quality and way of life. To some working may be a must but to these two characters they worked for what they loved and believed in. Working to neither the barber or sniper was a form of income, but a form of their passions and beliefs in the society they were living in. The sniper was a republican and had such a strong belief in this form of government that he decided to join them in fighting in the civil war. To put your life at such risk and danger it would no longer be about any money you could be paid but the cause you are fighting for. The sniper shows true devotion for his belief by working a job that supports that. The barber has a sincere passion for his job as a honorable barber working hard to not let a single drop of blood be drawn from any of his customers. With his belief he went undercover as a revolutionary to get inside information on the free state. Both jobs that he worked showed different aspects of his personality, being a barber exhibited his passion, and ended up not killing torres because he loved it so much. Being an undercover republican brought great danger to his life but indicates the sacrifices he would make for what he believes in. The next similar trait is that both characters exhibit their beliefs in a number of audacious ways. The sniper was willing to kill numbers of people in the civil war under the name of being a republican and fighting under their rules and beliefs. He wanted a republican government so bad that he was willing to put his life and the lives of innocent others at risk. The reason he ended up losing his brother was

because the divergence of two different groups and how he followed through with his duty of being a sniper. The barber showed his devotion to his belief by going undercover to gain extra knowledge on the free state, but had not directly avowed that he was part of a certain group. If he was caught for being part of this group he would be at the risk of being hung, or tortured. Having the beliefs he did also caused him into having a serious debate with himself whether or not to kill or not to kill the leader of the opposition. The final akin trait is that even though these occored in other parts of the world they were both in war. In the sniper they were fighting in the civil war, specifically in the story it was the battle of dublin. Lasting for roughly a week, starting on June 28th 1922 and ending on July 5th 1922, marked the beginning of the irish civil war tearing up the once alluring city streets. Located far from ireland in south america is where the story lather and nothing else takes place. This story is most likely talking about the latin wars of independence in which armies set out to conquer europe, quickly spreading into parts of the us and france. This happened around the time period of late 18th and early 19th century killing many people in a very historically important war for independence. The main similarities in these stories are some of the contributing most important parts in these short stories. Now that we have linked all the similarities together the question is if their will be more differences than alike parts in these two stories.

Between these two short stories there were endless differences with close comparisons, but there are three main distinctions of these stories that stood out. The first thing that set these two stories apart was the thoughts that went through each character's mind and how easy or hard it was for them to kill. Second differing trait was their jobs, and third was their concerns about what to do after they commit the crime. The sniper was a quick thinker that was ready for the counter attack after being threatened by the bullet of an opposing sniper. Only worry in his head during the battle was to help his wounded arm and to kill his enemy. As he aimed for his target he took a deep breath, not out of empathy or agitation but just out of his desire to make the hard shot to kill the adversary. Earlier in the story he shot an old woman out of the assumption that she was working with the enemy. On the other hand the barber knew who this man was right as he walked into the shop, and tried to contain his feelings of nervousness. During the story he has an internal argument with himself on the pros and cons if he killed the man known as torres. A line from the story quotes him having this subjective conflict “And it would be so easy to kill him. He deserves it. Or does he? No damn it!” This continues down the whole page and plays a major role in his final decision. The next difference that these two stories share is both of the main characters jobs and what they are expected to do in them. The sniper wouldn't be classified as a murderer, but his job was to kill opposition in the civil war. The definition of a sniper is; someone who is a qualified specialist most often times in war to maintain visual contact with enemy. The sniper in this story was trained for incredible accuracy to have the ability to kill enemies or threats. The sniper is an assigned role in being part of the civil war when the barber is just an innocent man who is exercising his right to believe in being a revolutionary. Instead of working or fighting in the war the barber decides to pursue his passion and talent of being a well known honorable coiffeur. He was referred to as the town barber in which very few revolutionaries knew his cause. He believes himself to be honorable and sticking to his job staying to what he knew best. Finally the last differing trait these two stories have is the different concerns, feelings or thoughts each character had or would have had after killing. After the sniper has fired the gun resulting in killing his enemy he let out a cry of joy he then suffered as a sign of revulsion as the body collapsed to the ground. Not so much the specific killing but the war in general made his teeth chatter, and made him curse the war, himself, and everyone else. This only lasted for a short while before he took a swig of his whiskey and became curious about the identity of the man he had killed. After the sniper saw his brothers face their might of been a feeling of regret or anger. The sniper never ended up killing the his enemy but since his job was not to kill he has a lot more consequences to think over. If he killed him the barber didn't want him to suffer at all, it would be done quickly. Then the following questions came up such as, “What would I do then with the body?” “Where would I hide it?” and if he would have to flee leaving all this behind. He thought about what others would say and think of him such as being a cowardly way to kill someone, being the avenger of people or maybe a name to remember. But he did not want to leave his whole life behind to go into a new life of fear and hiding. Between these two stories there are many solid differences that give the literature their own meaning, but their are also strong similarities that help relate stories to the way of common thinking and actions.

Would you consider these two stories into being more alike or more different? What made your final decision on that? Between comparing these two stories overall they seem to have a lot of differences rather than similarities. The differences in these stories were evident and expressed through the general knowledge about how people, think react, and work. The sniper has to main traits the completely separate his personality from the barbers. The first main concept was the jobs of both of these characters, the sniper killed as a job with no thought about the end result or consequences. The sniper's job was mainly done to fight for his belief of being a republican in the civil war. As for the barber was quite the opposite, he worked as a barber because that was his talent and passion, he wasn't in that job because of his beliefs of being a revolutionary. To the barber his job and his belief should never get mixed up because anyone who walked through his doors he would work for honorably. The next trait that separated these two stories was the fact that they were both in two completely different wars on the other side of the world, fighting for two different things, both with different stances on the issue. The sniper was part of the republicans in fighting the civil war in dublin ireland, wanting to sacrifice his life to fight for what he believed in. The barber was located in south america during a war of independence when a group was trying to start a dictatorship. The barber considered himself a revolutionary but kept that information on the down low so he wouldn't be killed. The methods of killing were also different in the sniper the city streets were being torn up by guns and armies when in the barber people could be tortured and live in fear if they don't believe in dictatorship.

In conclusion there are many similarities and differences when comparing both of these short stories but when you take a closer look you will see that the amount of differences strongly overshadow the amount of similarities. The similarities were often made up of general information that was often so broad that it was like comparing lions and butterflies. When searching for differences you could locate specific points and quotes from the story in supporting that specific trait of the character or literature. The main point that all the differences were circling around their jobs, the concerns they had, and killing. However the main topic in the similarities were generic statements such as work, belief, and war. The sniper and lather and nothing else were both very good stories that to fully understand them and the characters in them you must study them in great depth to fully understand meanings. Both characters were unique and had their own personality on mind sent on dealing with issues. Everyone has their own opinions on how to deal with certain struggles or problems that arise in life and theses two stories exemplify the differences in thinking, personality, and beliefs of two different people.