Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Introduction

Welcome to my blog!

I am writing this blog for an english assignment. In this blog I will talk about the short story named "The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty which is about a young republican sniper who is in the middle of a civil war, fighting for his life against an unkown enemy. I will relate the story to a poem, a movie and an image that relates to the themes of the story or the events that happen in both the story and the form of media.

References:

Picture from: http://www.theodoresworld.net/pics/0406/sniperImage1.jpg

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty

The story takes place on the roof of a building and this sniper is on a the roof of a building.

The long June twilight faded into night. Dublin lay enveloped in darkness but for the dim light of the moon that shone through fleecy clouds, casting a pale light as of approaching dawn over the streets and the dark waters of the Liffey. Around the beleaguered Four Courts the heavy guns roared. Here and there through the city, machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night, spasmodically, like dogs barking on lone farms. Republicans and Free Staters were waging civil war.

On a rooftop near O'Connell Bridge, a Republican sniper lay watching. Beside him lay his rifle and over his shoulders was slung a pair of field glasses. His face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic. They were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.

He was eating a sandwich hungrily. He had eaten nothing since morning. He had been too excited to eat. He finished the sandwich, and, taking a flask of whiskey from his pocket, he took a short drought. Then he returned the flask to his pocket. He paused for a moment, considering whether he should risk a smoke. It was dangerous. The flash might be seen in the darkness, and there were enemies watching. He decided to take the risk.

Placing a cigarette between his lips, he struck a match, inhaled the smoke hurriedly and put out the light. Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof. The sniper took another whiff and put out the cigarette. Then he swore softly and crawled away to the left.

Cautiously he raised himself and peered over the parapet. There was a flash and a bullet whizzed over his head. He dropped immediately. He had seen the flash. It came from the opposite side of the street.

He rolled over the roof to a chimney stack in the rear, and slowly drew himself up behind it, until his eyes were level with the top of the parapet. There was nothing to be seen--just the dim outline of the opposite housetop against the blue sky. His enemy was under cover.

Just then an armored car came across the bridge and advanced slowly up the street. It stopped on the opposite side of the street, fifty yards ahead. The sniper could hear the dull panting of the motor. His heart beat faster. It was an enemy car. He wanted to fire, but he knew it was useless. His bullets would never pierce the steel that covered the gray monster.

Then round the corner of a side street came an old woman, her head covered by a tattered shawl. She began to talk to the man in the turret of the car. She was pointing to the roof where the sniper lay. An informer.

The turret opened. A man's head and shoulders appeared, looking toward the sniper. The sniper raised his rifle and fired. The head fell heavily on the turret wall. The woman darted toward the side street. The sniper fired again. The woman whirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter.

Suddenly from the opposite roof a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with a curse. The rifle clattered to the roof. The sniper thought the noise would wake the dead. He stooped to pick the rifle up. He couldn't lift it. His forearm was dead. "I'm hit," he muttered.

Dropping flat onto the roof, he crawled back to the parapet. With his left hand he felt the injured right forearm. The blood was oozing through the sleeve of his coat. There was no pain--just a deadened sensation, as if the arm had been cut off.

Quickly he drew his knife from his pocket, opened it on the breastwork of the parapet, and ripped open the sleeve. There was a small hole where the bullet had entered. On the other side there was no hole. The bullet had lodged in the bone. It must have fractured it. He bent the arm below the wound. the arm bent back easily. He ground his teeth to overcome the pain.

Then taking out his field dressing, he ripped open the packet with his knife. He broke the neck of the iodine bottle and let the bitter fluid drip into the wound. A paroxysm of pain swept through him. He placed the cotton wadding over the wound and wrapped the dressing over it. He tied the ends with his teeth.

Then he lay still against the parapet, and, closing his eyes, he made an effort of will to overcome the pain.

In the street beneath all was still. The armored car had retired speedily over the bridge, with the machine gunner's head hanging lifeless over the turret. The woman's corpse lay still in the gutter.

The sniper lay still for a long time nursing his wounded arm and planning escape. Morning must not find him wounded on the roof. The enemy on the opposite roof coverd his escape. He must kill that enemy and he could not use his rifle. He had only a revolver to do it. Then he thought of a plan.

Taking off his cap, he placed it over the muzzle of his rifle. Then he pushed the rifle slowly upward over the parapet, until the cap was visible from the opposite side of the street. Almost immediately there was a report, and a bullet pierced the center of the cap. The sniper slanted the rifle forward. The cap clipped down into the street. Then catching the rifle in the middle, the sniper dropped his left hand over the roof and let it hang, lifelessly. After a few moments he let the rifle drop to the street. Then he sank to the roof, dragging his hand with him.

Crawling quickly to his feet, he peered up at the corner of the roof. His ruse had succeeded. The other sniper, seeing the cap and rifle fall, thought that he had killed his man. He was now standing before a row of chimney pots, looking across, with his head clearly silhouetted against the western sky.

The Republican sniper smiled and lifted his revolver above the edge of the parapet. The distance was about fifty yards--a hard shot in the dim light, and his right arm was paining him like a thousand devils. He took a steady aim. His hand trembled with eagerness. Pressing his lips together, he took a deep breath through his nostrils and fired. He was almost deafened with the report and his arm shook with the recoil.

Then when the smoke cleared, he peered across and uttered a cry of joy. His enemy had been hit. He was reeling over the parapet in his death agony. He struggled to keep his feet, but he was slowly falling forward as if in a dream. The rifle fell from his grasp, hit the parapet, fell over, bounded off the pole of a barber's shop beneath and then clattered on the pavement.

Then the dying man on the roof crumpled up and fell forward. The body turned over and over in space and hit the ground with a dull thud. Then it lay still.

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. Weakened by his wound and the long summer day of fasting and watching on the roof, he revolted from the sight of the shattered mass of his dead enemy. 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. The revolver went off with a concussion and the bullet whizzed past the sniper's head. He was frightened back to his senses by the shock. His nerves steadied. The cloud of fear scattered from his mind and he laughed.

Taking the whiskey flask from his pocket, he emptied it a drought. He felt reckless under the influence of the spirit. He decided to leave the roof now and look for his company commander, to report. Everywhere around was quiet. There was not much danger in going through the streets. He picked up his revolver and put it in his pocket. Then he crawled down through the skylight to the house underneath.

When the sniper reached the laneway on the street level, he felt a sudden curiosity as to the identity of the enemy sniper whom he had killed. He decided that he was a good shot, whoever he was. He wondered did he know him. Perhaps he had been in his own company before the split in the army. He decided to risk going over to have a look at him. He peered around the corner into O'Connell Street. In the upper part of the street there was heavy firing, but around here all was quiet.

The sniper darted across the street. A machine gun tore up the ground around him with a hail of bullets, but he escaped. He threw himself face downward beside the corpse. The machine gun stopped.

Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face.

References

Story from: http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/sniper.html
Sniper Picture from: http://pro.corbis.com/images/42-15483594.jpg?size=572&uid=%7B998D2D1E-9644-4751-AE01-EB12FC0CE3BA%7D

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Movie Comparasion

Bleach The Movie 2 The Diamond Dust Rebellion



In this movie the main character of this film (Hitsugaya Toushirou) eventually ends up having to kill one of his best friends from his past. Earlier in the film, Hitsugaya had to fight a mystery man who was trying to steal the "Royal Seal", a powerful artifact that can manipulate time, space and matter in a small area. While they were fighting, Hitsugaya realized who the mystery man was, an old friend who died a long time ago by Hitsugaya in a match for the sword "Hyourinmaru". So Hitsugaya chases after him and finds out that he was correct. His friend was back and he wanted revenge. After the massive fight Hitsugaya had to kill his friend and retrieve the Royal Seal before all of "Soul Society" was destroyed.

This movie relates to the story "The Sniper" because in the story the sniper was on the rooftop fighting against an unknown enemy and in the begining of the movie Hitsugaya had to fight against an unknown enemy who he later found out was his friend but for a while he did not know who it was. Also in the story, the sniper eventually ended up killing his enemy and in the movie Hitsugaya also had to end up killing his enemy. The final reason why the story and this movie relate is that in the story the sniper kills his brother in the end and in the movie Hitsugaya kills his best friend in the end.
References

Movie Trailer from: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=cvOlaM0JJDk

Image Comparasion

This is the image that I wish to compare with the shory story "The Sniper" because they are both similar because of their themes. The themes in this picture and in the story are that not only do the soldiers in the wars are affected but their families are affected aw well. As you can see in the image there are numerous people protesting against the war and are trying to tell the governemt to brings back the soldiers who are fighting in the war back home to their families who are deeply worried about their family members. In the story "The Sniper" the main character is on the rooftop fighting against an enemy he can't see. Before the incident he was seperated from his brother and his family and as forced to take arms and fight until the war is over. In the end the sniper ends up killing his brother because of the war.

References

War protest image from: http://www.mfso-oregon.org/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=76&g2_serialNumber=2

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Poem Comparasion


A soldier honouring a fallen comerade just like the poem honours the author's fallen brother.

The Poem

MY BROTHER

By April D. Williams

IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY BROTHER

Where did the time go my brother, did we walk today?
In my spirit, in my mind, you're not far away.

Where did the time go my brother, did we share today?
Fond memories live in my heart, you'll be here always.

Where did the time go my brother, did we softly speak?
We'll share our joys and our pain, even while you sleep.

Where did the time go my brother, with teardrops in my eyes.
I will miss you everyday until the day I die.

Comparasion

This poems relates to the story because first of all, the poem is about someone who lost their brother to a war. In the story, the sniper was shooting at an unknown person, not knowing that it was his brother that he was shooting at, and when he finally managed to kill his enemy, he saw that he had killed his brother. In this poem the author is recalling the times that she did not get to share with her brother and is shocked at the fact that he is gone. The sniper on the other hand had no time to react after seeing that he had killed his brother because the story just ends, but if the story were to continue, then it would probably explain the shock that the sniper would be in knowing that he had kileld his own brother.

References:

Image from: http://touchofheavenyardart.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Fallen_Soldier.27122428_std.jpg

Poem from: http://www.poetryamerica.com/read_poems.asp?id=330066&start=10