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How Does Liam O Flaherty Use Irony In The Sniper

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Within Liam O’Flaherty’s short story, “The Sniper”, there are two literary devices that greatly impact the meaning of the story. These two literary devices are irony and mood, and together they show the reader how difficult war can be and how it can pull friends and families apart. While reading the text, the reader can feel how tired, lethargic, yet exciting war can be. On page 1, paragraph 3, the sniper was “eating a sandwich hungrily” because he “had eaten nothing since morning”. In this paragraph, readers can feel how the thrill of war can overcome a person, taking over their actions, emotions, and feelings. Irony also plays a big part in “The Sniper”, helping support the meaning of the story through the theme. At the end of the story in paragraphs 25-27, the sniper decides to look at the body of the man he had just killed, and to his surprise, he finds that the man he had just shot dead was his brother. Throughout “The Sniper” O’Flaherty is trying to convey the theme of “fighting for what you believe in does not always turn out the way you want it to be” This theme comes about within the story as the sniper constantly has the mindset to kill anything in sight, because he is trying to defend himself and fight for the Republic. The sniper …show more content…

In war, there will be collateral damage in which strangers, friends, and families could be hurt or torn apart. You or someone you may know could die. People fight for what they believe in during war, for their religion, for their freedom, or their political views. Yet at the same time, these people are fighting for their lives, so they would do anything in their power to defend themselves or others. In “The Sniper”, the man kills his very own brother. In war, we can end up fighting our own brothers and sisters, friends, and other people in our everyday lives. Yet what matters is fighting for what we believe in, no matter the

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