His most successful novel, The Informer (1925), is about a Republican soldier during the Irish Civil War and was made into an Oscar-winning film in 1935. Liam O’Flaherty is famous for his short stories and 13 novels, a handful of which were written in Irish. When he rolls the corpse over, he realizes he has killed his own brother. To avoid being shot, the sniper feigns death and throws his body next to that of the dead enemy sniper. When he goes into the street, he hears a storm of machine guns, but escapes unharmed. He feels inexplicably compelled to see the face of the enemy sniper whom he has just killed. Emboldened by the effects of the whiskey and not hearing much noise, he leaves the roof through the skylight to report to his commander. He resents the war and drains the remaining whiskey from his flask. The protagonist is suddenly overcome by remorse as he sees the falling body. The enemy falls over the parapet and his body rotates in the air as it falls to the earth. The protagonist shoots him with a revolver. The enemy sniper falls for the ruse and stands up over the parapet when he sees the rifle fall. He lets his arm and rifle fall over the parapet in order to give the illusion that he has been hit. Realizing that he is unable to fire his rifle with only one hand, he caps the muzzle and shoots it over the parapet. As a consequence, he knows that he must get off the roof by morning or fall victim to this enemy. The protagonist knows that he was hit by an enemy sniper on the opposite rooftop. He experiences pain when applying the iodine, but proceeds to dress his wound, tying the bandage with his teeth. He must use his functional hand to break the neck of an iodine bottle which he carries with him. He sees that the bullet entered his arm but did not bleed through. The protagonist opens his shirt using his pocketknife. Realizing that he cannot lift his arm, he shouts, “I’m hit.” Suddenly, the sniper hears a shot from the opposite rooftop and drops his rifle. The enemy vehicle speeds away, the dead man’s head hanging “lifeless over the turret” (Paragraph 13). The sniper shoots her in the course of her retreat, causing her to fall into the gutter. The startled woman darts back to the side street. The man reveals himself through the car’s turret, an opening on the top through which machine guns can be positioned. When the woman points up to the rooftop in his direction, he realizes that she is betraying his whereabouts to the man in the vehicle. The light from his cigarette reveals him. He sees an old woman approach an armored enemy car, which the sniper knows his bullet will not penetrate. A bullet from the Free Stater sniper on the roof opposite scarcely misses him.Ī car stops and idles about 50 yards away from the protagonist. Just after lighting the match, he hears a bullet hit a part of the wall nearby, which forces him to put out his cigarette after just two puffs. Though he knows the danger, he cannot resist the temptation for a cigarette. He devours a sandwich and quaffs whiskey from a flask, as he hasn’t eaten all day. He has a “thin ascetic” face befitting a student, while his eyes betray his fanaticism (Paragraph 1). The story takes place in twilight during June. Free Staters supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and favored an Irish Free State within the parameters of British rule. Republicans were against the Anglo-Irish Treaty, believing that it sold out the Irish Republic. The antagonist is also a sniper, an opposing Free Stater. The story is told from the limited third-person perspective of the Republican soldier, henceforth referred to as the protagonist. It adjusts for the number of visitors and daily workers commuting into cities.“The Sniper” portrays the experience of a Republican (rebel) sniper first on the rooftop of the O’Connell Bridge and later in the environs of Dublin’s high courts building known as the Four Courts. The crime index weighs serious crimes and violent crimes more heavily.
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