19 pages 38 minutes read

Liam O'Flaherty

The Sniper

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1923

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Essay Topics

1.

How does the third-person point of view contribute to the development of the story? How would the story change if O’Flaherty wrote from the sniper’s first-person point of view?

2.

O’Flaherty writes that his protagonist cries joyfully after hitting his target; however, after he sees the enemy sniper fall, his bloodlust ceases. What do you think brings about this sudden change in the protagonist? How does his transformation foreshadow the tragic revelation at the story’s end?

3.

What role does warfare play in “The Sniper”? How does the setting of warfare relate to O’Flaherty’s development of characters?