The Sniper Thesis

The author of “The Sniper” is James Riordan. James Riordan created a name for himself as a respected Russianist, and children’s author and translator. Riordan is relatively qualified to write a story based on the snipers of Stalingrad, for he spent an amount of time researching the topic in Russia. In Moscow, Riordan studied Russian politics and history, becoming well versed on the rising of The Communist Party (Riley). Much of Riordan’s life was spent studying and debating Russian politics and history, making him relatively qualified to write “The Sniper.” One could argue that Riordan held extreme political opinions, which could cause a story to fall towards subjectivity. However, the story has remained extremely politically neutral, and “The Sniper” is fictional; a subjective fictional

story is often deeper than an objective one. Overall, Riordan is a qualified man to write a story on the snipers of Stalingrad.

James Riordan’s “The Sniper” takes place in the Soviet Union during World War II, specifically The Battle of Stalingrad. To fully grasp and effectively analyze “The Sniper,” a reader should have a basic understand of national relations during World War II, Russian Politics during World War II, and The Battle of Stalingrad. It is important for a reader to know which countries were allied in World War II. This information may seem painfully obvious; however, if a younger reader does not know which countries were allied in World War II, they might not be able to grasp the story concept at all. Readers should also know Russia’s basic political stance during World War II. Readers need to understand why the secret police existed, how the citizens treated Stalin with great respect and fear, and why the Soviet Union joined the allies. The first third of “The Sniper” is about The Battle of Stalingrad, so it is important readers understand the highlights of it. For example: the winning side, approximately how long the battle lasted, and the reason the winning side won. These basic facts enhance readers’ experiences, tying the story into already acquired knowledge. To fully understand “The Sniper,” readers should have a basic understand of national relations during World War II, Russian Politics during World War II, and The Battle of Stalingrad.
“The Sniper” is a journey through “the life of a teenage sniper recruited in 1942” (Riordan Back Cover). The story is opened by chapter focusing on an unknown sniper, hardened to murder, shooting several German troops. A transition follows, introducing the main character, Tania Belova, forced into war by tragedy and circumstance. Tania begins her journey early 1942, in her hometown, Stalingrad. One day, Tania’s whole school is called to arms by their country. After digging trenches, Tania is assigned the role of a shooter, she is to shoot down any German planes that fly overhead; on the day the Germans attack, Tania does exactly that. She is hit sometime during the attack and wakes up in her room, her entire family gone (almost everyone has evacuated the city;) when Tania wanders out, she is given an assignment by the secret police. Tania is asked to give a letter to her father and the general, who she learns is out gathering reinforcement; she delivers the letter and discusses the war with her father and the general. Tania is, by far, the most developed character; there are a few supporting character: Nina (a girl hurt while digging trenches), Major General Rogatin (of the Secret Police,) Tania’s father, Timofei (the old man who helped Tania reacher her father,) and the general. The main conflict, so far, is Tania’s struggle to find a place in the war effort, as well as the actual struggle of the war; Tania has been given odd jobs, but no set role. “The Sniper” is primarily about a young girl, Tania, and her struggle during World War II’s Battle of Stalingrad.
James Riordan has a style unique to German and Russian writers.

His sentences are long, wordy, and often strung together by commas and semicolons. The vocabulary Riordan uses is not difficult, but it comes across as harder due to the way he forms sentences; Riordan uses many words in every sentence, causing the entire page to seem much more difficult; his old-fashioned writing style can also make reading difficult. For a more experienced reader, these changes in writing style likely will not negatively affect them; though, younger readers used an English style may struggle. Riordan starts the book describing a sniper picking off German soldiers. Riordan’s first chapter is foreshadowing, the readers are meant to assume that the sniper is Tania, from the book’s description on the back. Riordan also uses dialogue to develop characters and form relationships. For example, this is dialogue between Timofei and Tania, “‘We don’t know how to fight a modern war,’ he continued bitterly. ‘What do you mean, we don’t know how?’ she said, her voice rising” (Riordan 61). James Riordan has an old fashioned, yet easily flowing writing style; his style shaped how readers interpreted his

story.
“The Sniper” was primarily exposition up until chapter twenty, so predicting what will happen next is difficult. However, judging from the book’s description and the foreshadowing, Tania will most likely be recruited into a sniper unit. There are also may be more action deeper within the book, as there was very little in the exposition. Some character development in Tania is inevitable, she still somewhat acts like a child, war will most likely eventually harden her. However, the other supporting characters may not have much more character development. The way Riordan introduced the supporting characters was very brief and flat; most of the characters have no substance and will probably disappear. Tania’s father may play an important role later, though; her father could play a major role on how she develops as a character. Hopefully, the rest of Tania’s family makes an appearance, this will ease Tania’s and the audience’s states of mind. Likely, the war will further progress; Stalingrad was a long and tedious battle, “The Sniper” will likely cover highlights of it. “The Sniper” has a long exposition, making it hard to make predictions about it, but a few educated guesses can be made.