Essay Comic Strip

Thematic Comparison Between "The Sniper" and Transformers

War has always been the turnaround of an event throughout history. World War One and Two, the U.S. Civil War regarding slavery, and the Viet Nam War can be seen as a few examples. In the story, “The Sniper” by Liam O’ Flaherty is taken place during the place the Irish Civil War where there were families and friends divided in two sides based on the side they support. The movie Transformers shares the same theme as there are two opposing sides, the Autobots and Decepticons, that both have a different perspective of humans and the Planet Earth. The similar theme is that there are no barriers in war and the enemy is nothing more than targets. This is shown in “The Sniper” when an old woman “darted toward the side street.” She was shot by the sniper, and “whirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter.” The sniper had also killed his brother, although he didn’t realize it at first, when he “turned over the body and looked into his brother’s face.” In the Transformers films, the war between the Autobots and Decepticons had changed tides when Sentinel Prime, the original leader of the Autobots had been revived by Optimus Prime, the current leader, but betrayed them and joined the opposing side. In the end, no remorse was shown between the friends in the battle between Optimus and Sentinel, where Optimus killed him. In another example, The Fallen, a Decepticon had exclaimed, “Die like your brothers,” at Optimus. He replied saying,”They were your brothers too!” In these examples shown, war had transformed the scenarios of close brothers, and perspective of an old woman. Old woman are not seen as informers, like in “The Sniper.” The severity of war is shown in “The Sniper” by not having any names for the characters. This shows that all humans are targets in war. In the Transformers, brothers and close allies were being killed in order to a forever lasting war. These two stories show that war is not taken lightly, and you do not know who you are really fighting until someone gets hurt.

The Sniper

"The woman whirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter"

The Sniper

"the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face.

Transformers Dark of The Moon Dialogue

Sentinel Prime: Optimus... All I've ever wanted... was the survival of our race. You must see why I had to betray you.

Optimus: You didn't betray me. You betrayed yourself.

Transformers Dark of The Moon Dialogue

Megatron: Now, we need a truce. All I want is to be back in charge. Besides... who would you be without me, Prime?

Optimus: Time to find out. (kills Megatron)

Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen Dialogue

The Fallen: Die like your brothers!


Optimus Prime: They were your brothers too! 

Optimus Prime Quote

"In war, there are calms between storms. There will be days when we lose faith, days when our allies turn against us."

Optimus Prime Quote

"...but then came the war between the Autobots who fought for freedom and the Decepticons who dreamed of tyranny."

The Sniper