The Sniper 'And Liam O' Flaherty's Cranes

Over the course of history, many countries have struggled through hardships to get where they are today. One such struggle would be civil war, such as the ones in Ireland and Korea. Civil wars are classified as wars fought by citizens of the same country. Sometimes, in times of war, it can be hard to figure out where loyalties lie. The stories of “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty and “Cranes” by Hwang Sunwŏn are from the point of views of men caught in different circumstances that arise from civil wars in their countries. In both of the stories the idea that civil war separates families and friends is in the conflicts that The Sniper and Sŏngsam, the main characters, go through.
Over the course of Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper,” the reader experiences what it is like to be in a war. He reveals to the reader the struggles of being in a war, such as the physical trials not to mention the emotional turmoil that
. . having untied Tŏkchae’s hands . . . Only then did Tŏkchae catch on. ” (Sunwŏn 277). The fact that Sŏngsam unexpectedly brought up the idea of a crane hunt hints he wasn’t thinking about it before then. “ A couple of Tanjŏng cranes soared high into the clear blue autumn sky, fluttering their huge wings. ” ( Sunwŏn 277 ). Cranes or birds in general in literature are symbols of freedom, which means that instead of escorting Tŏkchae to Ch’ŏngdan, Sŏngsam most likely set him free. Even though they were separated by the war, they reunited and Sŏngsam couldn’t see his friend dead.
War separates friends and families, but it can also form new bonds while testing the one’s already existing, the worst part of war though, is that people will face things they can’t control. The sniper didn’t get the chance to save his brother, but Sŏngsam was able to save Tŏkchae and if the sniper had a chance he probably would’ve saved his brother that is the thing with war often there are not any