The Sniper-A Short Story by Liam O’Flaherty ICSE Literature Paper - INDIA

The Sniper A Short Story by Liam O’Flaherty

ICSE Literature Paper - INDIA

Courtesy FrankSons Workbook

Glossary

Sniper – a hidden shooter; gleam – flickering brightness; parapet – low protective wall along a roof; turret – the rotating dome of an armourd car containing the gun; recoil – sudden or swallow;

Context Q. no. 2

“His face was the face of a student, thin and serious, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic. They were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.”

(i) Who is being described here? Which party does he belong to and where is he?

The sniper, the protagonist of the story, is being described here.

He belongs to the Republican Party. He is on a rooftop near O’Connell Bridge in the city of Dublin in Ireland.

(ii) Explain ‘the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.’

The sniper being actively engaged in a fierce civil war, has caused and seen death from close quarters. Besides he is a fanatic, fighting for his cause without questions and this explains why his eyes have that strange gleam even when he is shooting at the Free Staters who were but his own country-men.

(iii) What is the professional equipment he is carrying? What else does he have with him?

The sniper’s professional equipment includes his rifle, revolver, a pair of field-glasses, a first-aid box and a couple of sandwiches.

He has also a flask of whisky and a pack of cigarettes to steady his nerves when the going is particularly trying.

(iv) Why does he hesitate before smoking? What happens as soon as he lights a cigarette?

He does so lest the flash of the match-stick striking the match-box should be seen by a hidden enemy.

No sooner does he light up a cigarette than a bullet shot by an enemy secretly watching, flattens itself against the parapet of the roof on which the sniper has positioned himself.

(v) What happens as he carefully looks over the parapet from where he is hiding?

As soon as he looks over the parapet of the roof, there is a flash and a bullet whizzes over his head. The bullet is shot from the opposite side of the street from a rooftop.

N.B. Some of these free ICSE and ISC stories, poems and dramas contextual questions and answers authored by me can also be found at

http://groups.google.co.in/group/write-better-speak-better?hl=en-GB