The Sniper (story)

The Sniper is a short story written by Irish

writer Liam O'Flaherty, set during the
early weeks of the Irish Civil War, during
the Battle of Dublin. It is O'Flaherty's first
published work of fiction, published in a
small London-based socialist weekly The
New Leader (12 January 1923)[1] while
the war it depicted was still ongoing. The
favorable notice it generated helped get
other works by O'Flaherty published, and
started his career. It is widely read today
in secondary schools of many English-
speaking countries, owing to its being
easy to read, its short length, and its
having a notable surprise ending.

Summary
There is heavy fighting taking place in
Dublin, Ireland. A Republican sniper is
sitting on a rooftop, eating a sandwich
and drinking a bottle of whiskey. Despite
knowing it is dangerous, he decides to
smoke a cigarette and instantly a bullet
hits the roof. An armored car of the Irish
Free State forces arrives, and an old
woman steps out of the darkness and
points out the sniper's position to the
soldier in the car. The sniper shoots both
the woman and the man in the car.
Immediately he is hit by the enemy sniper
in the right arm.

The sniper applies a dressing, though in

great pain, and prone in position for
some time. He decides he has to escape
from the roof before morning. He is no
longer able to hold his rifle; hence, he
tricks the enemy sniper into shooting his
cap, which he places over the rifle. He
lets the cap fall into the street, drops his
rifle and lets his left hand hang over the
edge of the roof, giving the impression
that he has been shot dead.

The enemy sniper then stands up clearly,

only to be shot instantly by the
Republican sniper with a revolver. The
dying man falls over the roof and hits the
ground. Weakened and disgusted, the
protagonist moves down to the street,
curious to find out whom he had killed.
The sniper darts across the street. A
machine gun tears up the ground around
him with hail of bullets, but he escapes.
He throws himself face downward
besides the corpse. The machine gun
stops. The sniper turns over the dead
body only to realize that the dead man is
his brother.

Notes
1. "Liam O'Flaherty (1896-1984)" .
Ricorso database A Knowledge of
Irish Literature.
Further reading
A Study Guide for Liam O'Flaherty's
"The Sniper". Gale (Cengage Learning),
ISBN 9781410358325 (online at
encyclopedia.com )
Elsa Baíz de Gelpí: meet the short
story. La editorial (Universidad de
Puerto Rico, 1973,
ISBN 9780847727599, pp. 53-64

External links
O'Flaherty, Liam. "The Sniper" . Classic
Short Stories at ClassicShorts.com. Full
text of the story.
O'Flaherty, Liam. " 'The Sniper' by Liam
O'Flaherty" . eNotes. Full text,
summary, and analysis.
Megan Johnson: Liam O’Flaherty’s “The
Sniper” and the Irish Civil War - writin
resources (Florida State University)
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