Student Question

Does "The Sniper" remind you of any character from literature or movies?

Expert Answers

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The Sniper reminds me of the W.B. Yeats poem "Easter 1916" because both are about the violence during the Irish civil war. Both Yeats and O'Flaherty had very close connections with the war which is why each wrote very personal accounts. This was was personal because it divided so many. It divided Yeats and the woman he loved just as it divided the brothers in The Sniper. "Easter 1916" is perhaps a bit more personal than The Sniper because Yeats wrote it about people he actually knew. The first stanza talks about his loyalty to the Irish, then he talks about those who died for the cause, and finally he speaks about whether England can be trusted to ensure freedom that was promised.

See the links for a more complete review and interpretation of the poem "Easter 1916".

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