Matthew Distefano
Dr. deGravelles
Block 3
26 April, 2013
Literary Analysis of “The Sniper”
O’Flaherty’s story, “The Sniper” is one of civil war in Dublin, Ireland,
between two rival factions, the Republicans and the Free Staters.
The main character is a Republican sniper who is positioned on a rooftop of a building, near a bridge over which the enemy travels,
“The long June twilight faded into night. Dublin lay enveloped in darkness but for the dim light of the moon that shone through fleecy clouds casting a pale light as of
approaching dawn over the streets and the dark waters of the Liffey.”
Particularly, the author’s use of these key words and phrases sets the ominous scene,
and keeps the reader engaged.
The author also does an interesting job with the characters.
He keeps their proper names anonymous.
O’Flaherty does this to emphasize the need of the character,
to have no emotional connection to the enemy in order to kill them.
Throughout the story examples can be cited of how,
the author relays the sniper’s emotions about his job,
he writes, “He had been too excited to eat”
This shows that the sniper enjoys what he does to some extent.
The sniper’s lack of emotional connection to his victims,
is contradicted in the story because almost immediately after the killings ,
and in sharp contrast to his positive emotions about killing the enemies,
O’Flaherty describes the sniper’s painful and negative emotions when he writes,
“Upon watching the enemy fall, the author describes the sniper,
as “shuddering…bitten by remorse…
revolted from the sight of the shattered mass.
O’Flaherty amplifies the horror in the story by waiting until the very end,
to reveal the gruesome tragedy and irony of war.
After the sniper kills his enemy, he becomes curious and wants to take a closer look.
In the process he is shot at and in an attempt to dodge the bullet,
he has to dive to the ground and lands near the dead body.
The author brings us to the climax when he writes,
“Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face”
