"The Sniper" Short Story by Liam O'Flaherty

Summary

It was twilight at Dublin, and the sniper lay on a rooftop, watching and hearing the sounds of guns firing across. The Republicans and the Free Staters were waging a civil war. The sniper decided to take a risk of lighting a cigarette, right then a bullet hit itself on the roof. More bullets came whizzing past him, and this time he saw a flash, his enemy was on the other side of the roof. An armored car came rolling onto the street, and an informant, a women, ran to the car and pointed at the sniper's position to the men in the car. Right then, the sniper killed the man and the women by shooting them. Just then, a bullet hit the sniper, it came from the enemy that was on the other side of the roof. The sniper was in deep pain, he wasn't able to hold his rifle either. He quickly tended to his wound by using his field dressing. The sniper thought of a plan to kill his enemy, because he didn't want to be found in the morning on the rooftop. When the enemy shot towards him, he faked his death by letting the rifle and his hat fall to the ground. The enemy thought that he was dead. Then the sniper steadied himself and shot the enemy that was on the opposite of the rooftop. The man fell to the ground with a cry. The sniper felt guilty. The sniper decided to leave the rooftop and report to his commander, but he was feeling really curious to know who the enemy was. The sniper went over to the body, and turned the dead body, and found out that he had shot his brother.

The Theme

The main idea or theme that's portrayed in the short story "The Sniper" is that war changes not only individual people but the society which they live in. For example in the story the two brothers chose differently. The sniper tries to kill his enemy, who is on the other side of the rooftop. When he does shoot the enemy, he is torn with the thoughts of what the war had done to him, especially when he realizes that he  has killed his own brother. It was portrayed in the story that the sniper was a student, and the war made him a killer. If the sniper's brother had the chance he wouldn't have done any different. This is what war does to people.