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The Face of Humanity
“War is like love, it always finds a way” (Bertolt Brecht). Although one is evil
and the other pure, the powerful forces of both war and love inspire the best stories. An
even more interesting topic emerges when a character must chose between devotion to a
war and loyalty to loved ones. In both Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper” and Hwang
Sunwon’s “Cranes,” the main character is involved in a civil war that calls for his
allegiance to the government despite his feelings for a loved one who fights for the
enemy. Even though these stories share the subject of civil war, their themes differ
greatly. Whereas “The Sniper” reveals the inhumanity that results from civil war,
“Cranes” focuses on wartime opportunities for heroic acts that value humanity.
In “The Sniper,” the protagonist learns an unbearable lesson about the gruesome
nature of war when he unveils the identity of the man he killed. The unnamed sniper
represents a young Irish man who is consumed by the 1920 politics of the Republicans
who want to free Ireland from British rule. Liam O’Flaherty writes, “His [the sniper’s]
face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic, 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” (212). Therefore, the pervasive war transformed this once innocent and rational
young man into a heartless extremist. With his devotion to a political cause and the need
for survival, the sniper lies on a rooftop near the Four Corner of Dublin and faces an
external conflict with a Free Stater sniper who is staked out on a near building. The
sniper is in a kill or be killed situation. After masterfully killing his enemy and rejoicing
in his victory, “the sniper…shuddered. The lust for battle died in him. He became bitten
by remorse” (214). The sniper learns that he has given into the brutality of war that he
hates so much, yet he does not understand the full measure of his mistake. As the sniper
rolls over the dead body, he unveils the face of his brother. He painfully learns that his
lust for battle and devotion to a cause has spurred him to kill his brother. Only now does
the desperate theme resound: inhumanity results from civil war.
Contrarily, Songsam, the protagonist in “Cranes,” learns an uplifting lesson about
the triumph of heroism and humanity when he capitalizes on a wartime opportunity. The
story opens with Songsam, a South Korean soldier in the 1950s civil war, residing in his
former hometown. Sunwon writes, “The village as a whole showed few traces of
destruction from the war, but it did not seem like the same village Songsam had known as
a boy” (222). Although the war has not changed the land significantly, it has impacted
Songsam, darkening his outlook on life. When Songsam spots a boyhood playmate and
former vice-chairman of the Communist League, Tokchae, his bitterness towards the
northern communists motivates him to escort his friend to his death. Songsam declares,
“You [Tokchae] are sure to be shot anyway” (224). Despite his initial certainty, Songsam
undergoes a change of heart when he reminisces about his days spent crane trapping with
Tokchae. Now, Songsam is torn internally between his loyalty to the government and his
loyalty to a friend. As he fondly recalls the day he and Tokchae released a crane in
danger, Songsam learns that his friendship is stronger than the war that threatens to
divide it. He craftily unbinds Tokchae to crane trap, allowing Tokchae to escape. As
Sunwon ends the story by comparing Songsam and Tokchae to two liberated cranes, the
theme resounds: wartime opportunities allow for heroic acts that value humanity.
Whereas “The Sniper” focuses on the hopeless message that wartime provokes
extreme inhumanity, “Cranes” conveys a hopeful message that individuals can choose
compassion over violence, even during wartime. As each story opens, both protagonists
are consumed by the animosity that fuels war. Immediately, they face conflicts that force
them to consider killing another man. Driven by both devotion to a cause and survival,
the sniper unknowingly kills his brother and confirms that war makes men do inhumane
deeds. Contrarily, Songsam has time to dwell on his past and consider the value of his
prisoner’s, and friend’s, life, and he sends the message that humanity can triumph during
the heat of civil war. Perhaps the difference between life and death, humanity and
inhumanity, is the ability to step back from a wartime situation and evaluate one’s
loyalties, morality, and love for mankind.