Answer:
Soldiers disconnect from their humanity in battle and focus on others as adversaries.
Explanation:
Liam O'Flaherty's short story "The Sniper," tells the story of how a Republican sniper killed his own brother amidst the split in the army between the "Republicans and Free Staters". The story's main theme seems to be the inexcusable nature of war that separates families and even made them enemies.
The sniper succeeded in locating the enemy sniper who thought that he had successfully taken him out. The ruse of putting his army cap on top of his rifle worked and brought the other sniper out in the open. It was then that he successfully take out his enemy. But while escaping from his present location amidst the rain of bullets, he had the strange urge to see who he had killed. And once he lifted the lifeless body of the dead sniper, he discovered it was "his brother's face" that greeted him.
Thus, the statement that best identifies the story's theme is that soldiers are disconnected to their human side when on the battlefield and sees everyone as their enemies, foes.
