“The Sniper” Notes
“The Two Faces of Man”; “Human Duality”
L. D. = satire, irony, metaphor and use of the noir metaphorical imagery- illustrates the blackness of human character
· p.7 - “This experience is as old as time and as new as tomorrow.” Text to text: Satayana “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it”
· italicized para- tragic irony emphasized with “death agony”
· author meta ?’s: multiple meanings re civil war; fighting between fellow countrymen; families; “pay” (double entendre)
· para 1: emphasis on setting (ominous thru’ spec wd use- faded, dim, enveloped, clouds, dark, pale, beleaguered, roared,
LD: onomatopoeia “…guns roared.” (p. 7); fig of speech “broke the silence”; simile “…machine guns and rifles…spasmodically, like dogs…” (p.7)
Tone shift: middle of the para from a slow, eerie silence to a fast pace of the sounds of civil war
· para 2: e of f shift to character & tone shift to narrative storytelling.
· Character- sniper: contrast between the intellectual, thin faced, & the eyes of the fanatic, familiar with death
LD: double entendre “cold” (.7); pathos “…used to looking at death.” (p7)
· p.8 para 1- character con’t: “he”x9 & “his”x1: he’s anyone and no one (irony); animal imagery (descrip of the way he eats);
LD double entendre “excited” (p.8)
?- Why take the risk? (death wish or foreshadowing or future ill thought actions)
· para 2- fast, light action imagery- pace change again bet. Para
· para 3 & 4- animal imagery: the predator and the “prey” LD irony
· para 4- LD metaphor- the armoured tank as an invulnerable beast “grey monster” (p.8)
· para 5- tone & image contrast shift: the old lady (deceptive char, an informer- good char choice) noir choix
· para 6- char in tank: naïve or dumb?; contrast in char bet sniper- methodical, calm & the old lady- shrieks, darts, whirled: a macabre dance- a death dance
· para 7- sensory shift- sounds, LD onomatopoeia “curse, clattered fig of speech “…wake the dead.” His forearm was dead…” (p.8) irony/foreshadowing?
· para 10- “…no pain…a deadened sensation (as are their feelings)
Note: onomatopoeia use for emotional and sensory emphasis
· pp. 8 & 9: why the detail on the wound? Too feel his pain/sympathy?
· p.9 para 1- more graphic descr of his pain & animal imagery
· para 3- tone shift “…all was still.” (p.9); descr of the 2 corpses
? What is life reduced to? Valueless; LD metaphor “…the street …was still.” (p.9)
· para 4- animal imagery: the cunning planning to kill the “enemy”
· para 6- “His ruse had succeeded.” (p.9) retrospect irony in ‘succeeded’
· last para- noir imagery w/ alliteration: “sniper smiled” (p.9) LD “…arm…paining…like a thousand devils.” (p.9)
· “His arm trembled with eagerness.” (p.9) perverse irony?
· p. 10 para 1- noir expression “…cry of joy.” Dramatic death scene (para 1 & 2)- slow mo’ dream like contrast with the horror of the reality drawn out with the descriptive detail of the motion of the body, now termed “it”
· para 3- sanity vs insanity: is this the real person who feels remorse, regret, loss of blood lust, reduced to a gibbering idiot. Are his curses a return to sanity?
· para 4- the rejection of the gun and that part of himself that realizes the insanity of this war; its misfire, return him to the sniper persona
· para 5- the artificial courage of the alcohol makes him falsely confident and results in poor decisions: ignoring protocol, not reporting to his CO but instead going over to check the body simply due to curiousity
? Why did the author build this plot deviation in- idle curiosity will not deter anyone who has long witnessed death (experienced)- his instinct for self preservation as well as being a trained protocol obeying soldier are contradictory. The risk was almost fatal, certainly high drama (“hail of bullets”).
? “…but he escaped?” (p.11) from what/did he?
“…face downward beside the corpse.” (p.11) Imagery of 2 corpses
Final Paragraph: 1 line declarative sentence: purpose in styling this type of ending?
Irony: the sniper “died” when joined the war and what did he win/accomplish in the “big picture”- the death of his brother
Text to text connection: Andy (no name) in “The Royals” jacket