“It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.” Robert E. Lee. In the short story “The Sniper” Liam O’Flaherty, tells readers about war and the hard challenges, how scary it can be, and the hazards that occur. War can be horrifying and cause people to do things that they would not do. Therefore, war will never be good and it can harm a person who is fighting in many ways, impacting his or her mental,emotional, and physical health.

War can engage bad behavior, mentally. In the beginning of the story the sniper is on a rooftop eating and he decides to grab a bottle of whiskey from his pocket. “Taking a flask of whiskey from his pocket, he took a short draught” (pg. 406). Drinking during war is dangerous and …show more content…
The sniper was on the rooftop and just got done shooting a women. After he shot the women, there was an enemy on the opposite rooftop that had shot him in his arm. “From the opposite roof a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with a curse. The rifle clattered to the roof. His forearm was dead. He muttered... “I’m hit” (pg 406). You should always be aware of your surroundings at all times because you never know what could happen and it can have an effect of making you emotional. Later in the story, the sniper was on the rooftop and he saw a car come up the bright and it kept getting closer and closer, the sniper’s heart kept beating faster and faster because he was scared that the enemy was going to do something to him. “Just then an armored car came across the bridge and advanced slowly up the street fifty yards ahead. The sniper could hear the dull panting of the motor. His heart beat faster. It was the enemy car” (pg. 405). War can be scary because it can make you emotional you may not know what is always going on or what is around you and if you are not aware of what is around you then it can mess with your emotional …show more content…
For instance, the sniper saw a woman and a man turn the corner and so he shot both of them within minutes because the woman was pointing the sniper out to the man that was walking with her. “A man’s head and shoulders appeared, looking towards the sniper. The sniper raised his rifle and fired. The head fell heavily on the turret wall. The women darted toward the side street. The sniper fired again. The woman whirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter” (pg. 406). When you are in war you can possibly do physically things to harm someone that you normally would not do. Another example of why war has an effect of making you do physically things that you normally would not do is when the sniper did not want to be seen on the roof when morning came so he decided to leave the rooftop and go to the lane way, which is the street level. He wanted to identify the enemy sniper that he killed because he thought that it was a good shot. “The sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face.” (pg. 407) Killing a family member during war could cause ones family to break apart emotionally and physically. In conclusion, these examples explain why war has an effect of making you do physically things that you should not be