The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty- Newspaper Report

Republican Sniper kills 3 Enemies during Dublin Civil War

in June of 1922  in the middle of the night a Republican Sniper Shoots his brother and 2 other Free Staters near O’Connell Bridge from the Roof of a Building. Armed with only a rifle and a Revolver he manages to take out an enemy Sniper who was actually his brother across the street also hiding on the roof with a clever trick, the second target was driving an armoured military vehicle and stopped just under the sniper to talk to the third target which was a female informer.

The sniper had the looks of a student but the eyes of a killer, the eyes of a man used to death. The sniper was revealed his location to the enemy sniper but what he didn’t know was that the man who was hiding across the street was actually his brother who had to switch sides when the army was split up. After his meal when he decided to light a cigarette taking the risk of an enemy seeing the light of the match. His brother saw it and took a shot which whizzed past the sniper.

Afterwards the Republican sniper tried to shoot the Free Stater sniper but he was hidden and undercover, at that instant an armoured vehicle drove down the street towards the sniper and a woman approached it, the woman pointed towards his location and a man appeared on top of the truck who tried to man the turret that was placed on top of the truck but before he could the Sniper shot the man. The informer tried to flee down the street, but did not get very far the sniper also shot her.

His brother then took the chance and shot at the Republican hitting him in the shoulder. In an Interview the sniper says “I didn’t even feel pain I just felt a deadened sensation in my arm”.  He realised the bullet did not come out the other side  his body so therefore is lodged in his bone. He tends his wounds by pouring liquid Iodine over it.

Soon after the sniper realises he cannot fire his rifle  any more so he makes a plan to lure his enemy out by pretending to die. He puts his cap on the muzzle of his rifle and exposes the hat which gets shot seconds after, the Republican Sniper then lets his hand fall over the ledge of the roof and his rifle fall.

The snipers brother believes that he’s killed his enemy and stands up victoriously, but his victory is cut short when the Republican sniper takes him out using a handheld revolver, the bullet covered a distance of 40 meters.

It’s Ironic two brother battling each other but for the same country, but not by choice.

ISU BLOG #3

In the book Dark inside the main reason people are so edge is because the enemy can be anyone, there is no one to trust. The Enemy could be disguised as your friend you could think you trust him or her but the minute you turn your back you are dead. This Picture perfectly represent the trust issues that the main characters of my book are experiencing. No matter how friendly someone might seem they could always stab you in the back with an axe. Mason who is one of the main characters of the book, was traveling by himself and met a one legged old man named Twiggy who offered him help. Mason decided he was harmless, the old man fed mason and talked with him, even offering his vehicle with a full tank of gas. However as soon as Mason stepped out the door the old man said "Trust no one" and then he whips his coffee mug towards his head and knocks him out. Who could have thought that would ever happened ! Imagine how hard it is to survive in an apocalypse without being able to trust anyone, even the people you have known for years. The main characters of my book are still trusting each other believing that is the only way to survive, but they are experiencing the consequences and betrayal .

Summary of the Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty

Summary

The Sniper is a short story by Liam O'Floherty which describes the experiences of a Republican sniper during a civil war in Dublin, Ireland . The sniper is camping on roof near O'Connell Bridge with his rifle beside him, with minimal lighting from the moon he hungrily ate food after many hours of starvation. After his meal he decided to take the risk of lighting a cigarette even though the enemy would be able to see him due to the light produced . As soon as he lit the cigarette with a match a bullet whizzed past him, cursing he put out the light and rolled to the side grabbing his rifle and looking for the enemy sniper. Unfortunately the Enemy was undercover, a little while later an armoured enemy vehicle pulls up near the parapet where the Republican Sniper was hiding. A Woman approaches the vehicle, the sniper concludes that the woman is an enemy informer and takes out the woman and the enemy in the truck. However after he takes these shots the Enemy sniper shoots his shoulder but the sniper shows no pain even though the bullet is lodged in his bone instead he rips off a piece of his shirt using a knife and tends to his wounds by pouring liquid Iodine onto it. Since he is currently unable to operate a rifle he makes a plan to trick the Enemy sniper in order for the Republican Sniper to kill him.  He puts his con the tip of the rifle and lifts his rifle making it seem like his head is exposed, the Enemy bites the bait and shoots the cap. Following that, the Republican Sniper drops his gun and cap  over the ledge and onto the street to make it look as if the enemy killed him. Triumphant the enemy stands up proud of his kill. but his victory doesn't last long because the republican Sniper now has a clear shot and using his hand held revolver he shoots the enemy even though he's about 40 meters away. Then the Republican sniper leaves the roof and decides to go to his commanding officer to report. But before he leaves the sniper decides to look at the Enemy sniper who fell off the roof ,because he was a very good sniper. when he got closer to the body he turned it over and looked in to his brothers face.

Author's View on War

The Author has a negative view on war which can be seen in his short story, he describes the hardships snipers and soldiers go through. They have to overcome every emotion including pain to be the best soldier without any remorse for who they kill. Soldiers have to follow orders no matter what they are, even though the soldiers don't hate the enemy soldiers they just follow orders which can be ironically seen in the story, the Republican Sniper shoots his brother who was transferred to the enemy army when the army split in half. War hurts our loved ones and somebody else loved ones, there are no winners in war.

ISU Blog #2 Slam Poetry based on Social Issue

Based on the social issue in my book I have written this spoken word poem, it describes how the lone survivors of the Apocalypse feel.

No where to go
no one to trust
what do I do
I don't want to but I must
keep walking
I hear them talking
telling me to do things id never do
I am loosing the war going on in my brain
but I cant give up, not just yet
cant let the pain
 take over who I am
My family died for me
i still gotta job to do
even if I don't know what it is
these people need me
i will not be like the baggers
who just care about murder
they have Guns and all I have is daggers
will it stop me ? no it will take me further

ISU Blog #1 Social issue: Corruption

The book i have chosen is called Dark inside by Jeyn Roberts, it is the story of 4 young people Mason, Aries, Clementine and Michael all trying to survive in a world that was destroyed. Destroyed by what you might ask, it was Humans the darkness that was building up in the hearts of humans snapped and the darkness took over which corrupted us. In the  book it is described as an ancient evil that was set free causing a series of Earthquakes and then taking over those with enough hate in them.Those possessed by this darkness were very dangerous, but unlike zombies or any other creatures in apocalyptic movies, these Baggers they called them were armed intelligent humans who would hunt the uncorrupted ones down and kill them.  Even those who were pure and not corrupted

were surrounded by death everywhere and started hearing voices in their heads, voices that would tell them to do horrific things, Black veins in the eyes are the only indicators of possession and those with  strong enough hate and mind could even bypass that, so who can you trust ? Nobody.
At the beginning,using perspective changes the book describes the situation every single one of these Teens were in before the apocalypse and then it describes the events leading up to the downfall of civilization. Most of them join other survivors and head north where its rumoured to be safe, Clementine however travels north on a Quest to find her brother Heath who also travelled north in hope of a safe place to stay. Eventually all 4 of them including other group members who joined on the way, coincidentally meet during a huge attack and they all fight together. The Book is left on a cliff hanger without a real solution to the Apocalypses, However there was a solution to the Social issue  shown in the book, it was Trust and Love,  Even though the groups had to go through so much in the end the trust they had amongst each other was what helped them prevail. They trusted each other even when they should not have.

No exit from Gaza: A new war crime?

The civilian population of Gaza are trapped in an overcrowded war zone with no form of exit. This situation reveals a serious gap in international humanitarian law 

This article talks about the struggles that the people from Gaza had to endure during the attacks from Israel. There was no place where civilians were safe from enemy attacks, the country had no exit the only way was the bordering country Egypt which refused to let any innocent civilians pass through its land. 1.7 million civilians were trapped in direct war zones of which 75% were children and women.

The UN has confronted Israel about broken humanitarian laws, civilians should not be harmed purposely during a war. Israel defended themselves saying they were dropping leaflets in strike zones to indicate a bombing or attack and for all civilians to move out of the area however that is not sufficient enough. Even if most civilians don't get physically harmed, hearing the sound of soaring jet, bomb explosion and the sound of gunshots in the distance will cause mental trauma especially for little kids. With only a handful of Palestinians allowed to leave (those with dual membership or US citizens) and no where else to go the innocent civilians have most likely lost hope in any kind of rescue.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/no-exit-gaza-new-war-crime-848440083#sthash.pLu6W2ct.dpuf