Summary: The short story “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty is about the conflict and war between the "Republicans", and the "Free Staters". The author focuses on the events that the main character "Dublin" experiences. The story begins by introducing the setting. It appears to be night with the faint light of the moon glistening through the clouds. Dublin is introduced as a sniper currently propped up on the roof of a building. Dublin decides to risk a smoke knowing that the spark of his lighter may jeopardize his life by revealing his position to an enemy. Instantly after lighting his cigarette, a bullet strikes the parapet of the roof. Throughout the story Dublin has his life on the line. He chooses to fire his sniper at one point and kills an enemy in an armored vehicle. Soon after, he gets shot in the forearm by an enemy sniper. After tense and painful moments, Dublin formulates a plan to kill the enemy sniper. The plan involved replicating a death to give the impression that he died. His ruse had succeeded. After seeing the replication, the enemy sniper revealed his position and Dublin was able to execute him. As the story progresses, Dublin decides to examine the enemy sniper's corpse to determine who he was. To his surprise, it was his own brother.
What is the author’s message?
I believe the author is trying to convey a simple message, that being - Know what your fighting for, know who your fighting and know if it's worth fighting. This may be the authors main message, as in the story it mentions that Dublin was going to report the news to the "company commander" meaning that he may have been fighting a battle for someone else. There are also other indicants of this message such as the fact that Dublin was unaware of who he was fighting, etc.
