How did I kill my own brother? Why did this war ever start? This horrifying event is a great example of the futility and tragedy of war. In the story, the sniper and his brother were separated when the civil war started. It turned whole families against each other. An example of this is the "Korean War-. Families that lived all over Korea were separated from each other when the war first started. Korea was separated into North and South Korea. Those who were in the north were forced to fight their blood relatives in the south. .
Families are shattered, friends turn against each other, crowds turn in confusion and whole cities erupt into battlefields. During war, thousands die every day and for what? What does war solve? War is the result of a clash of ideas. It is a solution for when negotiating takes no effect. However, what effect does war make? It does not solve anything. It is merely pointless bloodshed. In my opinion, the ideology of certain groups of people is not worth the lives of thousands of individuals.
O'Flaherty describes the sniper's face as ascetic on page 3, "His face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic - The face of a student causes us to think that he is young and irresponsible. However, thin and ascetic are usually qualities of a grown man. Therefore, O'Flaherty is trying to describe the sniper as an experienced adult with the personality of a child, often a daredevil. Rather than the word ascetic, which means to be self-disciplined, O'Flaherty could have used a better word to describe the snipers age, without destroying the daredevil personality.
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In the story, the sniper considers lighting a cigarette. "It was dangerous.he decided to take the risk."" One's knowledge that something is dangerous and then their persistence to carry out the action shows a true daredevil. A characteristic of the "student" in him mentioned earlier. Another action of the sniper is the need to discover whom he killed.
