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Why is "The Sniper" universally admired?
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"The Sniper" is universally admired for its powerful commentary on war and its shocking ending. The story immerses readers in the protagonist's mindset, highlighting his singular focus on survival and mission. The unexpected revelation that he has killed his brother underscores the dehumanizing effects of war, illustrating how it blinds individuals to the humanity of their opponents. This poignant message about the futility and tragedy of war resonates universally, making it a compelling and thought-provoking narrative.
I think one reason that this story is so admired and universal in appeal is because of the shocking ending that most readers do not see coming. Throughout the story, we are able to see inside the mind of the protagonist : what frightens him, what moves him, what compels him to act, and so on. He never once considers the identity of the soldier on the other side: who that man might be, if he has a family, the loved ones he might leave behind. In short, this focus on the one soldier's frame of mind prevents us from really considering the life of the person on the other side—we empathize with the protagonist, and we begin to hope for his own survival. We might even applaud his clever ruse with the cap, tricking the other soldier into thinking he'd died and that the other soldier was, thus, safe....
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However, when we learn, with the protagonist, that he has actually killed his brother, it takes our breath away because we were lulled into the somewhat self-centered mindset of the protagonist. Because he never considered his opponent's identity, we didn't either. This failure is what makes it possible for someone to kill a stranger, what enables violent conflict to take place: if we begin to consider our opponent's humanity and identity, it becomes a lot more difficult to kill them. In a way, when we kill anyone, we kill our "brother" because he or she is someone's brother or sister. In the midst of conflict, we might think of their lives as having less value than our own, but when the main character finds out that he's killed his brother, he realizes (as we do, with him) that his opponent's life is just as important as his own.
One of the reasons why "The Sniper" is universally admired is because of its statement on war.
The main character is focused on his wartime mission. Nothing gets in the way of his purpose. He is described as "thin" and "ascetic" as a consequence of his war training, a training that dehumanizes sniper and enemy. The sniper fails to find happiness:
The sniper looked at his enemy falling and he shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse. The sweat stood out in beads on his forehead..... His teeth chattered, he began to gibber to himself, cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody.
He looked at the smoking revolver in his hand, and with an oath he hurled it to the roof at his feet.
In the middle of the story, after being wounded, the sniper experiences a short-lived moment of revelation about war and his role in it.
"The Sniper" speaks to the idea that no war is ever "civil." When the sniper comes to see that he has killed his brother, he is left in silence.
The machine gun stopped.
Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face.
The sniper is face-to-face with the reality that he is his brother's murderer. This is the story's ultimate statement. Even though it is set amidst the Irish Civil War, it has universal applications because war makes either the sniper who kills or the brother who is killed.