Elizabeth Bailey English The Sniper

September 9, 2010 Rough Draft

In The Sniper a war rages and poses several dangers to the main character, the sniper. His life is changed as he struggles for survival. Physically, he is crippled, possibly for life by a life-threatening wound. His experiences slowly strip away his sanity. A battle of skill begins and the sniper is forced to kill or be killed. In The Sniper Liam O Flaherty, the author, illustrates the physical and mental dangers of war. The author uses the snipers physical perils to illustrate the horrors of war. First, danger is everywhere on the battle field and the sniper risks his life with every moment. The sniper realizes the extreme threats on his life, especially when a machine gun tore up the ground around him with a hail of bullets. He was only saved by chance. Had he moved, he would have been killed instantly, or at least mortally injured. The lives of many, like the snipers, are placed on the line because of luck. Mistakes also prove fatal and extreme to the sniper. Because of a bad decision, the sniper is injured, the bullet had lodged itself into the bone. It must have fractured it. The sniper is not careful and puts his life in danger because of his foolhardy decisions. His survival is dependent on his mental capacity, something very hard to maintain when under the pressure of war. The heat and long hours of waiting become a test on the vigilance and concentration of the sniper. He faces the danger of extreme heat and tension throughout the day He was weakened by hi s wound and the long summer day of watching and fasting. Not only was he hurt by the bullet in his arm, the snipers energy was being drained by the heat and his hunger. Being weak makes him prone to mistakes, which can also be lethal. His health and well-

being are very important and hard to sustain. The physical dangers of war are hard to bear and prove difficult to bear when in battle. The author also uses the snipers mental hazards to define the horrors of war. The sniper is obsessed with his work. He drives himself to become absorbed in the war his eyes had the cold gleam of a fanatic. He is steeled by his obsession. Because he is a fanatic, he nearly drives himself to insanity, losing his grip on reality. The sniper is also becoming emotionally affected by the war. When given an opportunity to kill, his hand trembled with eagerness. War twisted and contorted the snipers morals, making him keen to kill. The snipers mind frays and unravels to the point where he believes himself to be manipulated. The author shows the mental instability of the sniper with, he felt reckless under the influence of the spirits. The sniper will never be completely sane after his war experiences. The battle destroyed him mentally. The mental dangers of war prove more perilous than the physical ones. Being mentally crippled is not something that is easy to get over. The author shows this with his descriptions in The Sniper. In conclusion, the war endangers the snipers physical and mental health. Physically, the sniper is impaired and almost beyond help. Never again will he have full use of his limbs. His predicament is worsened by the mental stress placed on him. His mind was terrorized by his experiences, and he was changed. For the rest of his life, he will have to cope with the memories of the war, if he survives to the end. The struggle for the snipers life can only get more stressful.