The Soldier In Nicholas Irving Aka's The Reaper

The author, Tim O'Brien, is writing about an experience of a tour in the Vietnam conflict. This short story deals with inner conflicts of some individual soldiers and how they chose to deal with the realities of the Vietnam conflict, each in their own individual way as men, as soldiers.

War is something that can change the very principles of a person, it can change a person and leave multiple effects that can last for their entire life. The sniper is fighting in a civil war where friends and family can turn into enemies at a moment's notice. The fight is between the Republicans and the Free Staters, the protagonist is a sniper for the Republicans. Throughout the story, we go into the state of mind of the main character and learn some ramifications that he gained in the war. The text, “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty shows us the physical and psychological results of war, that happens to people.

"The Sniper" places a strong emphasis on the evils of war, and yet paints a vivid image of mankind's qualities and their society. Employing the technique of describing one particular sniper to symbolise a general subject, readers are able to gain a deep insight into the evils of war. In this story, the assembly of setting, contrasting characters and themes of fanaticism and division of loyalties are vital to conveying the horror of war. On the other hand, "The Sniper" also discusses the power of war, depicting it as the decider of life and death for men. Its force is further emphasised when neighbours are turned into enemies under war's influence.

Ernest Hemingway “Soldier’s Home" is an outstanding short story that shows the tragic impact of war on the life of a young soldier who returns home. The story paints a vibrant picture of a soldier’s life after coming back from a shocking experience. Hemingway shows impacts of war on a soldier with the main character being Harold Krebs, who faces hostility in his hometown after his return from fighting in the war. The main character in the story is Kreb with the author making usage of repetition, characterization, and symbolism to bring out the message in the story.

Beginning my love of reading an early age, I was never the type of child who was drawn to fictional stories. As an 8 year-old child in West Virginia, I was recognized by the local library for my love of biographies, autobiographies and recollections of world events. This love has continued throughout my adult life, desiring to read novels such as “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young” by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore rather than watch the major motion picture “We Were Soldiers” starring Mel Gibson. Even though the motion picture received multiple awards, when reading the recollection of Mr. Moore’s accounts, the feeling of loss, distress, anxiety and fear can be felt in each word that he has written while reliving this horrendous war.

War can destroy a man both in body and mind for the rest of his life. In “The Sniper,” Liam O’Flaherty suggests the horror of war not only by presenting its physical dangers, but also by showing its psychological effects. We are left to wonder which has the longer lasting effect—the visible physical scars or the ones on the inside?

O 'Brien illustrates to us the necessity for each man to be connected to their old life, telling a story of Mark Fossie flying in his girlfriend to ease his loneliness (104-05). Each soldier found himself facing insurmountable barriers throughout the war, and these small effects and coping mechanisms were often the only necessity that would give them reason to return home again. They needed personal methods of coping with the war, and this primeval survival was the only way to remain a man.

In the story “Redeployment by Phil Klay, the narrator was deployed in Iraq for a period of 7 months, during the deployment, he sees many dark stuffs and done many. As result of these events, the narrator is impacted in many ways. The experience of war transforms his views on a normal social life in america, therefore makes his readaptation to society challenging.

Almost like in a manual for story writing, O’Brien starts out every part of this short story by giving away a supposedly important feature of a “true war story” and then giving a matching example to help the reader visualize his lesson.

O'Brien presents the details of his story in chronological order. In the lengthy paragraphs, he incorporates many specific details such as his emotions, his surroundings, and his current situations. In his lengthy paragraphs, he also included short, fragmented sentences to lure in his audience to keep on reading. “Silly and hopeless.” (55) This three word sentence is not a complete thought and conveys a sense of fragmentation. This represents his confusion and loss of unity during this time period and at war. He uses flashbacks to better narrate and add a background to his story. The structure presents how much time has passed in between events. Tim O’Brien uses narration and description modes to further emphasize the struggles of going to war. “I spent the summer of 1968 working in an Armour meatpacking plant...it was like standing for eight hours a day under a lukewarm blood shower.” (41) This narration foreshadows his shame and embarrassment in the future by using an extended metaphor about war. He alludes to the audience that essentially, war is like a blood shower. The narrative mode included O’Brien referring to himself in the first-person point of view, having it take place in the past to help to reader understand the present, using dialogue between people, action and descriptions of events and

Sebastian Junger’s “Combat High” first appeared in Newsweek magazine in 2010. In this essay adapted from the author’s book War, Junger aims to convince readers how society’s decisions affect the many men and women fighting for our country and how soldiers all become one. In “Combat High”, Sebastian Junger apprise us about his involvement in Konrengal outpost in the Valley of Afghanistan (KOP). In his journey he perceives war in distinctive eyes, the eyes of a soldier.

"It was not necessarily that I had `found myself' during the war, but the conflict had certainly put a kind of buffer zone between the fault lines in my head." Though it is interesting to see an insight of his personal life, people looking for more of an insight of the war could get annoyed at how much personal writing there is. It’s not the big adventure story some people may be looking for. This novel really lets you see the cruelty and brutality of the war.

War causes people to fight and kill their countrymen without hesitation. The sniper is not used to killing people, but he has to what he has to do, to survive. The story shows how a civil war can make brothers enemies. In “The Sniper”, Liam O'Flaherty suggests the horror of war, not only by presenting its physical danger, but also by showing its psychological effect.

Soldiers and veterans deserve the credit and support that their countries give them. In the US, if a soldier or veteran passes by, somebody will thank them for serving their country. In “The Sniper”, written by Liam O’Flaherty, O’Flaherty illustrates how the dangers of war are the reason soldiers get that amount of support. “The Sniper’ is about a Republic Sniper in the Irish Civil War. Through mood, internal conflict, and setting, O’Flaherty illustrates the damaging effects war has on soldiers.

Soldiers who enter wars may not come out as when they went in. For example, John Steinbeck had his remembrance of the war of Vietnam. It came back to him after his daughter asked him about him killing anyone in the war. His behavior changed, causing him to act differently between his soldier personality and parent personality.