''The Sniper'' is a short story written by the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

writer

Liam O'Flaherty Liam O'Flaherty ( ; 28 August 1896 – 7 September 1984) was an Irish novelist and short-story writer, and one of the foremost socialist writers in the first part of the 20th century, writing about the common people's experience and from their ...

. Set during the early weeks of the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

, during the Battle of Dublin, it is O'Flaherty's first published work of

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. It was published in a small

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-based

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

weekly, ''

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'' (12 January 1923) while the war that it depicted was still ongoing. The favorable notice that it generated helped to get other works by O'Flaherty published, and started his career. The short story is widely read today in

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of many

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-speaking countries because it is easy to read, it is brief and it has a notable

surprise ending A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist or surprise ending. It may change the aud ...

Plot

There is heavy fighting taking place in

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. A

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sniper is sitting on a rooftop, eating a sandwich and drinking a bottle of whiskey. Despite knowing that it is dangerous, he decides to smoke a cigarette; he is immediately shot at. 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. He is then shot in the right arm by an enemy Free State sniper. The sniper applies a dressing though he is in great pain, and stays in the same position for some time. He decides to escape from the roof before morning. However, the enemy sniper blocked his escape. He is no longer able to hold his rifle and slyly 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, which gives 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 because he is curious to find out whom he had killed. The sniper darts across the street under machine-gun fire. He turns over the dead body, only to realize that the dead man was his brother.

References

Sources

* ''A Study Guide for Liam O'Flaherty's "The Sniper"''. Gale (Cengage Learning), .
online at encyclopedia.com
* Elsa Baíz de Gelpí: ''meet the short story''. La editorial (Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1973, , pp. 53-64

External links

* Full text of the story. * Full text, summary, and analysis. * Megan Johnson
''Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper” and the Irish Civil War''
- writing resources (Florida State University) Works by Liam O'Flaherty 1923 short stories Dublin (city) in fiction Snipers in fiction Short stories set in Ireland {{1920s-story-stub