The Sniper

By: Liam OFlaherty

Regi Simpson Andrew Barrett

About the author

Born: August 28, 1898 in Ireland He had nine brothers and sisters Smart student, studying Roman Catholic Priesthood Military service: Irish Guards 1915-17, WWI
In 1917 bomb explosion caused terrible injury Never returned to army due to extreme depression

After 1917 he began traveling

How war & the military effected Oflaherty

Returned to Ireland Communist, and atheism. Joined the Irish Republican Army whose goal was to liberate Ireland from British rule. Began writing novels about war, and revolution in Ireland.

The Sniper: Themes

War reduces human beings to objects -He does not name his characters War has no boundaries -Sniper shoots and kills his own brother

Significanc e?...

Power
The war had power by influencing and involving everyone, from young men like the sniper to the old woman The sniper had power over his enemies, by being able to kill them using his intelligence But his power backfired/worked against him when he ended up killing his brother

Culture
The IRA originally fought to liberate Ireland and were against Britain, so fighting for this was important to them But after 1922, when Britain created an Irish Free State, this led to the splitting of the Irish fighters, causing them to fight against each other instead in a civil war We dont know the snipers background, and the story mentions he had the eyes of a fanatic that were used to looking at death, so maybe hes been involved with war for so long that thats all hes used to, or knows

Analysis
The Sniper is based in Ireland, like many of OFlahertys other works A main theme in the Sniper is civil war, war being the theme of the some of the authors previous works, such as Return of the Brute OFlaherty believed the Irish Civil War to be a waste and futile, and he reflects these ideas in the Sniper

References
http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides 4/Sniper.html