The Sniper, a short story by Liam O’Flaherty is set in the Irish Civil War. It follows the events in the life of a Republican sniper who hides, to escape death at the hands of an enemy sniper, in the war. It engages with the themes of war and destruction, death by war, the importance of family, and the feelings of remorse and guilt.
The Sniper | Summary
The story begins in “the long June” during the Irish Civil War that broke out between the Republicans and the Free Staters. The Republican sniper sits on the rooftop near O’Connell Bridge, with his rifle and a pair of field glasses on his shoulders. He eats a sandwich hungrily, as he “had eaten nothing since morning” and drinks whiskey from the flask. He thinks whether he should risk lighting a cigarette since the flash might be visible in the darkness, and would give a hint to his enemies. Nevertheless, he lights the cigarette and as a result, a bullet hits the parapet of the rooftop where the sniper lies. Swearing, he looks over the parapet and sees a flash, thereafter a bullet strikes over his head. He realizes that the enemy sniper is undercover, on the opposite side of the street.
An armoured car comes across the bridge and halts on the other side of the street. He wishes to fire at the enemy but realizes it will be useless, since “his bullets will never pierce the steel that covered the gray monster”. An old woman, with “head covered by a tattered shawl”, appears on the street, informs the man in the car, and points towards the roof where the Republican sniper lays. The man from the armoured car, appearing from the turret, looks to shoot the sniper. However, the sniper raised his rifle and fired first, killing the man. The old woman tries to escape, but the sniper fires at her and she falls into the gutter.
The enemy sniper, on the other roof, shoots at the Republican sniper. Consequently, he is injured on the right forearm, which leads to a deadened sensation of the arm being cut off. Blood oozes out from the forearm, and he mutters “I’m hit”. Drawing a pocketknife, he rips open his sleeve and realizes that the bullet had lodged in his bone. He pours iodine on the wound and lets “the bitter fluid drip into the wound”, and accordingly experiences an outburst of pain that sweeps through him and placing the cotton wads over the wound, wraps the dressing over it. The sniper, nursing his wounded arm, plans for an escape. However, the enemy sniper lies on the opposite rooftop and has covered his escape. The sniper decides to kill the enemy, but still is unable to use his rifle, and could only use the revolver to execute his plan.
Placing his cap over the muzzle of the rifle, the sniper pushes his rifle over the parapet. The enemy sniper shoots the cap of the Republican sniper, and the latter drops his left hand over the roof lifelessly, suggesting his death, as he releases his rifle to the street.
The enemy sniper is tricked into thinking that he has killed the Republican sniper, and stands on the rooftop clearly, “silhouetted against the western sky”. Following this the Republican sniper aims steadily, as “his hand trembled with eagerness” and fires at the enemy. As the aim hit the enemy, “he uttered a cry of joy”. The dead man fell on the street and his body lay motionless on the ground.
Suddenly, looking at his enemy’s fall, “the lust of battle died in him”. He became “bitten by remorse” and “began to gibber to himself, cursing the war” and “cursing everybody”. He throws the revolver in his hand with an oath and empties the whiskey flask. He leaves the rooftop, looking for the commander to report. As he reached the street, he was accompanied by a sudden curiosity to identify the enemy sniper whom he had killed. He wondered if he knew the man and “perhaps he had been in his own company before the split in the army”.
The Sniper crosses the street and escapes the hail of bullets, from the machine gun around him. He threw himself face downward, beside the corpse and when the sniper turned the dead body over, he identified his brother’s face.
The Sniper | Analysis
The plot of the story develops on the Irish Civil War that began in June 1922 and lasted till May 1923.
Written in the third-person perspective, the author describes the war and violence that broke out between the Republicans and the Free Staters. The tone of the narrative is dark, gloomy, and full of violence and destruction which symbolises the presence of war. The readers are made aware of the contrast that exists in the city: Free Staters vs Republicans, the roof vs the streets. These distinctions are present as a result of the war. Thus, the extent of destruction caused by the war and its consequent effect on the people dragged in the war is made clear to the readers.
The sniper is described as having “the face of a student thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic”. Here, the contrast between the student and the fanatic is created through the war in the city.
The sniper is extremely careful of his choices as the slightest mistake would result in death, and yet lights a cigarette, which suggests that he is compelled by short-term desires of hunger and to smoke. The armoured car that appears across the bridge, is an unusual symbol of the war in the city of Dublin that has transformed the city landscape into a regular battlefield. The sniper kills the man in the armoured car and the old woman who informs the latter about the sniper, suggesting the death of innocent citizens at the hands of the sniper. The Republican sniper is hit by the enemy sniper from the opposite roof and feels as if his arm had been cut off. However, he does not feel pain and his numb reaction to the wound implies the effects of the war that leads humans desensitized to pain and death. The sniper does not feel pain for the people he has killed and thinks of an escape from the enemy sniper. He proves himself to be smart enough, at having tricked the enemy sniper. He feels joy at killing and having outwitted the enemy. However, as the dying man “hit the ground with a dull thud”, the emotion of happiness and joy turned into remorse, for the sniper. He turns weak from his wound and feels hungry as a result of fasting. The dead body causes a stir of emotions within the sniper and leads him to curse the war, himself, and everything.
Frustrated by the war, he decides to leave the site of the battle and rushes to report to the commander across the street, which implies loyalty toward his duty as a sniper. The sudden curiosity to identify the dead body of the enemy sniper suggests the feeling of humanity that he experiences and the life before he was split in the army. O’Flaherty suggests the rupture caused between families due to the war, rendering innocent people helpless. Shockingly, he realizes that he has killed his brother.
The Sniper – Themes
‘The Sniper’ explores the theme of war and destruction, death by war, importance of family, and feelings of remorse and guilt.
O’Flaherty conveys the theme of war and destruction explicitly in his short story. It is evident from the beginning of the story that the Republicans and the Free Staters are waging a war. The author uses descriptions like “heavy guns roared” and “machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night”, which implies the widespread effect of the war in the city. The situation of the sniper, who is “eating the sandwich hungrily” and considers whether to “risk a smoke”, explains the extreme living conditions of the soldiers living in war- torn regions, where the only goal is to win against the enemy.
The theme of death by war is emphasized since the sniper kills three people over time – the man in the armoured car, the old woman and the enemy sniper who turns out to be his brother. To save himself, the Republican sniper does not have much of a choice but to kill his enemies. This leads to blurring of boundaries since the old woman who might be an innocent resident is also dragged into the war and killed without any wrongdoings of her own. Thus, the machinery of war becomes a cause for the death of innocents.
The theme of family is explored in the story as the sniper recognises the face of his brother who gets killed. O’Flaherty not only explains the destruction of nuclear families but also the nation state as a family, which gets destroyed due to the war. Therefore, the sniper might have won the war for the country, however he has lost the battle for himself. The author literally and figuratively highlights the importance of familial bonds over the insignificant nature of war.
In the conclusion, the sniper does not feel guilt, when he kills the man in the armoured car and the old woman. It appears as if he is trying to save his life from enemies and escape death which is part of a soldier’s duty. However, when the enemy sniper is killed, he “utters a cry of joy”, and as the dead body fell and “hit the ground with a dull thud”, “the lust of battle died in him”. He feels sweat on his forehand and is weakened by the wound of the bullet. Suddenly, he undergoes human emotions of hunger, pain, guilt, remorse at the “sight of the shattered mass of the dead enemy”. He also feels curiosity to identify the body of the enemy sniper which did not occur previously at the death of the old woman and the man in the armoured car.
The Sniper – Title
The title ‘The Sniper’ signifies the absolute anonymity, caused due to the profession of the sniper and the war. He is not recognized through an individual name, but his profession as a sniper in the war assumes priority, suggesting he is merely a dummy at the hand of the executioners of the war and does not have an identity. The war renders him nameless and faceless and his status lies in being a sniper.
Every character associated with the war is identified through their profession and the role they play in the war and thus we see that it is not until O’Flaherty, reveals the enemy sniper to be the brother of the Republican sniper.
The Sniper – Character Sketch
The Republican sniper is described as having the face of a student” which is “thin and ascetic”. His eyes were “deep and thoughtful”, and were “used to looking at death”. It explains that the mundane and regular nature of his profession as a sniper has left him dull, lifeless, and numb to death and pain. Even when his right forearm is hit by a bullet, he feels a deadened sensation, as if his arm had been cut off.
The sniper comes across as a smart and witty person because during his pain, he manages to devise a plan for the enemy. He is joyful at the death of the enemy sniper but feels remorse at the inhuman and cruel nature of the war. Finally, he is accompanied by the human feelings of curiosity to identify the dead body, and leads him to recognize that he has killed his brother.
The Sniper – Literary devices
Liam O’Flaherty employs literary devices like imagery, foreshadowing and symbolism in his short story ‘The Sniper’.
The use of imagery helps to describe the destruction and atmosphere caused due to the civil war in Dublin.
“Around the beleaguered Four Courts the heavy guns roared…machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night”.
“Placing a cigarette between his lips, he struck a match, inhaled the smoke hurriedly and put out the light”.
The author uses sensory images related to sight and sound, explaining the dark environment caused as a result of the war, and underlining the conditions under which the sniper lives.
Further, the use of symbolism is evident through the character of the old woman, who is mistaken by the sniper to be an informant. She symbolises the innocent people whose lives are at stake due to the war. These civilians become mere objects and their lives are doomed as insignificant as a result of the war.
The “rifle”, “revolver”, “ armoured car”, “machine guns” and “bullets” symbolise war and the amount of destruction it causes to the people involved in it, signifying the barbaric and inhuman nature of the war. As a result, the protagonist feels remorse for the death of the enemy sniper.
The author also makes use of the technique of foreshadowing which highlights the curiosity of the Republican sniper to identify the enemy that he has killed. “He wondered did he know him” It creates suspense in the minds of the readers, about the upcoming events and finally they are made aware of the identity of the enemy sniper, who turns out to be the brother of the Republican sniper.