The Sniper Essay, Research Paper

War is a very controversial dilemma, which could be solved in an orderly fashion rather then a callous disaster where young men and women die. This cataclysmic story takes place in a short story written by Liam O’Flaherty, the story takes place in Dublin, Ireland during the 1920’s where a Republican sniper is involved with a terrible accident. He suffers dramatic injury to the soul and heart when someone that he loves dearly is shot. The story’s theme is intensified through situational irony, which shows the pointlessness of armed conflict.

Unexpected senseless occurrences happen when situational irony comes to effect. Like the time the Republican sniper unnecessarily lights up a smoke, which glows and shows his location on a rooftop; the irony unexpectedly occurs when an old lady whom is a spy descries the Republican sniper. This incident is ironic because one doesn’t expect for an old lady to be a spy because old crumbly elders can barely move. This shows that the sniper commits such an imprudent occasion as to light up a smoke, which could have gotten him killed right on the spot. Many other ironic moments take place such as the time a free state sniper was in a armored truck, which is basically like a tank, and he gets out of the his cage and then gets capped. This is ironic because why would someone do something as foolish as getting out of protection and giving himself a death wish, which concludes why war is pointless because all that?s going to happen is doom. This also shows that war is needless because all one is doing is hurting himself by killing a related specie. Furthermore, war can be even more ironic like the time when the Republican sniper unknowingly shoots his loved one, whom is his own brother. This is ironic because people usually that are family, don’t have very many different beliefs. This also unveils that war is pointless and ironic because after a war everybody seems to regret what had happened. This short story was exposed in a way that shows how ironic and meaningless war and expresses the pain, sorrow, and agony one suffers caused by war.

The theme of this story essentially illustrates a sequence of ironic occasions to impart a message that war is pointless. The first ironic event is the lighting of the glowing smoke and how it is abnormal that someone at an altitude so high can be seen with the tiny lighting of a cigarette. Also when something so foolish as a soldier giving away his life by giving himself a death wish which is provoked by hopping out of a protective armor. The most ironic moment is when the republican sniper assassinates his own brother, which strengthens the main theme of this story, which is that war is pointless. Senseless acts and pointlessness actions are perpetrated in a powerful story written by a great writer.