The Sniper Analysis Essay

In the story “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty, the reader is introduced a central theme of the story which is, humanity doesn’t have boundaries. One way this theme is evident is through the story, is how the sniper feels no regret when he shot a woman who was just reporting, because she thought she had to. Another way the theme is evident is through irony, “the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s eyes.” He was expecting his opponent to just be another stranger but plot twist it was his brother, his enemy was his brother, how ironic, the reason this literary device is good for this theme is because we know that he shot the man, but didn’t know who it was, and there was a chance that it was someone he knew, but he killed him anyway, in the end he found out that he killed his own brother. Throughout the story the author refers to war and the main character is killing people and he thinks they're the enemy, because of what he believes is right. The sniper didn’t know any of the people he was shooting, and most likely didn’t care. Although in the end he does find out the identity of his last target in the story, but he didn’t say how he felt after he found out who they

Throughout the story we witness the heartless killings of the main character, although he feels a little for each killing. This ties it in with one of the themes, “humanity doesn’t have boundaries.” In the words of the author “then when the smoke cleared, he peered across, and utter a cry of joy. His enemy had been hit.” This story leaves us thinking about how some actions may seem important and you have to do, but after the action is done you are filled with regret. Makes you feel that it’s important to decide the consequences after the action has been