Liam O 'Flaherty's The Sniper'

In the short story “The Sniper”, Liam O’Flaherty describes the hardships soldiers go through on a daily basis, he explains how important it is to understand the significance of doing what one has to do to survive in a war setting. Similar to the saying “kill or be killed”, a soldier has to disregard their emotions and do things to protect their country that can be detrimental to their social skills, and their overall ability to function normally in society post-war. The way soldiers behave in crisis’ situations can lead to the pernicious well-being of many bystanders and civilians at or near the war site. The author experienced these feelings first hand when he participated in World War I, while his short story takes place in Dublin during the Irish

“I’m hit, he muttered.” Immediately after the sniper was able to defeat the current threat another came along, the sniper was impaled by a bullet in his forearm, but he continued to do what he needed to do to keep his people safe. He knew he it was a necessity to abolish the second threat, the enemy sniper, so he began to execute his well thought out plan. The sniper laid lifelessly across the edge of the building to deceive his opponent, as he did this the enemy began to think he had won, but the Republican sniper stood anxiously and shot the enemy sniper. The feelings of shame and sorrow soon sink in to the man following the pull of the trigger that killed this “enemy” sniper, he began to realize the idiocy of what he was thinking and the thoughts of fear left his mind. He left the roof to find curiosity would take over, he then walked shamelessly down the dimmed street to turn over the body of the enemy he had shot just moments prior. The sniper soon realized this man he had thought of as an enemy, was also known as his