The Sniper Dehumanization Essay

In the articles “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty, “Dehumanization” by Michelle Maise, and CYberbullying Facts by StopBullying.gov all have a common underlying link: dehumanization. In “The Sniper,” a sniper in the streets of Ireland eliminates his enemy without a second thought, “Dehumanization” discusses the science behind dehumanization, and Cyberbullying Facts is an everyday example of what dehumanization looks like. But why does dehumanization occur? It is likely that the ‘enemy’ is being dehumanized by the ‘good guy’ so that the good guy won’t feel remorse for whatever unjustifiable atrocities the good guy inflicts on his enemy. Furthermore, it is likely that the good guy feels the need attack his enemy because the enemy embodies what the good guy hates about himself. An Individual will lash out at others with the same faults as himself when the individual does not understand how to address his own faults.
In “The Sniper,” the tragic story of brother

against brother tragically unfolds. At first, when the sniper does not realize the enemy is his brother, he kills the enemy sniper with little remorse. After the initial joy fades, the sniper is left cursing himself and the war. It is understood that the sniper curses himself because he understands that he just killed a human being. But other than the killing the sniper for the fact that he is the enemy, there is no obvious reason for the sniper to have killed the man across the way. However, when comparing the silhouette of the enemy sniper to the main sniper of the story, it is clear that one common thread is evident: they are both snipers. Being a sniper entails that they both kills for a living. Whether it is the enemy or innocent civilians, the target is shot and killed. From the sniper cursing himself after he kills his enemy, it is clear that the sniper hates that he kills as his way of life. He despises it about himself, and so naturally, he would despise that as well about his enemy. Since the sniper cannot eradicate this fault within himself without the war being over or committing suicide, he needs to do the next best thing: kill the enemy. In killing the enemy, the sniper can best work towards the more conceivable of mens in ridding himself of his fault, and he can eliminate one other who carries his fault.
Michelle Maiese’s “Dehumanization” addresses the more scientific side of the sniper’s issue.

When a ‘good guy’ dehumanizes his enemy, he will project his faults on to the enemy in order to create a more sinister and despicable image of the enemy. This image then allows for the ‘good guy’ to stomach the atrocities he inflicts upon the enemy. It is in this process of projection that the core of an individual’s faults are revealed. The good guy will project without even realizing he does. He will not realize that the enemy is merely a reflection of his innermost faults and hatred of himself. Because he wishes to deny the good in the enemy and acknowledge the enemy in himself, he will not realize that he is projecting his faults. Consequently, because the good guy cannot own up to his own faults, the enemy suffers and becomes less than human, undeserving of decent treatment, fair game for genocide, starvation, bombings of his home, simply because the good guy does not realize he is not as good as he thinks he

is.
A modern day reflection of this sort of dehumanization is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is the form of bullying that occurs on computers and cell phones via text message, social media, direct messages, email, etc. Since this form of bullying occurs through the screen, it takes away the human aspect of bullying. Instead of the bully looking her victim in the eye and saying, “You’re a slut,” instead she is able to type under the Instagram picture, “omg Becky you’re such a slut.” If you’ve ever sat through a health class discussion of bullying you will more than likely have heard something along the lines of, “Those who bully do so because they are insecure.” This phrase applies just as much in cyberbullying as it does in physical bullying. One in five girls are victims of cyberbully. It is likely that the bully of the one girl is another girl. If you were to look at what the bully was saying to the victim, it would probably be something along the likes of “You’re a slut,” “You’re such a whore,” “You’re so ugly.” Now if you were to look at the profile picture of the bully, would probably see the stereotypical duck lips, camera angle in such a way as to reveal some cleavage, and some sort of filter to give the girl flawless skin. If you looked at her page, you would probably see various posts along the lines of, “omg he’s so perfect,” “we’re so in love,” or “I can’t believe he broke up with me,” and all the associated emojis. In case it was not apparent enough now: the bully is using her victim to attack her own insecurities. By calling her victim every terrible word the bully has herself probably been called, she can let out her pent up anger and frustration over her own insecurities.