Universal Theme One Pager
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Jackson 1 Sofie Jackson Mrs. Wismer H. English 9 1 February 2015 War and the destruction it causes places victims in unjust scenarios. In the two short stories, “The Sniper” and “Cranes”, the writers Liam O’Flaherty and Hwang Sunwon, respectively, illustrate how civil war compels people to make life and death decisions; the authors present the main characters, one a nameless Irish sniper, and the other Songsam, a peasant farmer in Korea, with the decision of choosing their country or a former friend now fighting for the other side of the civil war. In “The Sniper”, the experienced soldier is fighting for the Republicans in Dublin, Ireland. O’Flaherty describes the sniper as “his eyes had the gleam of a fanatic. They were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.”(212) exemplifying the extent of the man’s dedication to his country and his cause. The combatant eagerly kills his opponent, but while watching the corpse tumble to the ground, he
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Universal Theme of "The Sniper" and "Cranes"
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Jackson 1Jackson 2Sofie JacksonMrs. WismerH. English 91 February 2015War and the destruction it causes places victims in unjust scenarios. In the two short stories, The Sniper and Cranes, the writers Liam OFlaherty and Hwang Sunwon, respectively, illustrate how civil war compels people to make life and death decisions; the authors present the main characters, one a nameless Irish sniper, and the other Songsam, a peasant farmer in Korea, with the decision of choosing their country or a former friend now fighting for the other side of the civil war. In The Sniper, the experienced soldier is fighting for the Republicans in Dublin, Ireland. OFlaherty describes the sniper as his eyes had the gleam of a fanatic. They were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.(212) exemplifying the extent of the mans dedication to his country and his cause. The combatant eagerly kills his opponent, but while watching the corpse tumble to the ground, he regrets dispatching the enemy soldier. Only after he discovers the man he killed was his brother does he realize what civil war has altered him into: a ruthless killer who chose his country over his family.The divided loyalties exhibited in The Sniper are additionally displayed in Cranes. During return of the farmer Songsam to his pro-Western hometown village along the thirty-eighth parallel, Songsam comes across a communist soldier bounded. Upon noticing that the young man is his childhood companion, Tokchae, Songsam offers to escort him to his execution. Describing a conversation between the men on the journey from one village to another, Sunwon writes I thought of evacuatingBut father said no. How could the famers leave the land behind...? (225) exposing the similarities between Songsams and Tokchaes circumstances. As Songsam reminisces of the boys relationships, he begins to doubt the justness of Tokchaes execution. He resolves his external conflict by allowing Tokchae to escape, highlighting his choice of family over his country.The stories The Sniper and Crane feature civil war and the loyalties one has to both their homeland as well as their companions. Although the outcomes of the two pieces are different, it is clear the violence and the obliteration of war forces one to make grave decisions.
