Compare and Contrast Essay: Identities by W.D Valgarson vs. The Sniper by Liam O'flaherty

Have you ever done something that you regret? I know I have, and so do some people that are in these short stories. The realistic fiction short story Identities by W.D Valgarson and the historical fiction short story The Sniper by Liam O'flaherty go over many cause and effect decisions. The stories both show how people’s poor actions have bad consequences.

In Identities there is a man who goes to explore his childhood neighborhood. He forgets his phone at home, when he leaves he talks about how he hasn't shaved that day even though he has every other day before this, this leads to problems later on in the story. He stops at a gas station to see if they had a phone because of his lack of one and also had gotten lost along the way. Whilst on his way to the Gaston the story mentions his car, it's an expensive car, a car that catches a lot of people's eyes in the not so nice neighborhood. Eventually, his car grabs the attention of a new cop. But the man does not see this cop, he is paying too much attention to the pretty girl at the gas station to even notice the police officer that pulls out behind him and follows him to the gas station. The man observes his surroundings and scruffs up his appearance to fit in more trying not to get robbed by the bikers. So when the police officer tells him to put up his hands, he reaches for his I.D. and the officer shoots.

In both identities and the sniper both they show how both men are in places that at the beginning think they should be but feel the opposite by the end. They feel the opposite about how they did at the beginning because of their poor actions that have bad consequences. These consequences were so bad that they either got themselves or someone else killed.

In The Sniper the character is first introduced lighting a cigarette, a second of relief led to a world of pain. When he lights the lighter it lets the enemy know where he is. The man is in a civil war. He gets shot at because of this and then more people come out trying to say what had happened, so he shot those two people before they could do anymore. This distracted the other sniper and in the midst of everything he had got a shot on the other sniper at first feeling relief he was filled with joy. But then he is filled with worry and dread. Because of these sudden feelings arising he is overwhelmed with the urge and curiosity to see who he shot. After all, the other man had gotten him. He wanted to see who this sniper was with such a good shot. Through this he had forgotten it was a civil war and that he could have been shouting at someone whom he had met before or even someone who he was close with, Remembering this he quietly rushes over to the body because he wanted to know who it is and because he is still in enemy territory and doesn't want to get shot at again. He finally turns over the body and dread fills him once again as he sees not a neighbor, friend, classmate, he turns over to find his brother.

Overall the short stories go over a lot of cause and effect actions and decisions. They both start with a bad decision like the man from identities leaves his house and the man from the sniper lighting a cigarette. And they also both end with somebody dead.