"The Sniper" shows a gradual change in the protagonist from being a fanatic to becoming a sensitive human being. Discuss.

I can see the truth in your statement, and I believe that
you can read this excellent short war-time story in a way to support it, however, I
personally believe that the story doesn't show a gradual change in the protagonist. It
rather shows the way in which in situations of conflict or war we have to let a
different side of ourselves dominate. I believe that the protagonist is always a
sensitive human being, but part of the impact of this story concerns the way in which
during war-time, to be successful and survive, we need to squash such sensitive parts of
our character and let more violent and ruthless parts
dominate.

Note the way that the protagonist is described as
the story opens and we are plunged straight into a situation of urban
warfare:

On a
rooftop near O'Connell Bridge, a Republican sniper lay watching. Beside him lay his
rifle and over his shoulders was slung a pair of field glasses. His face was the face of
a student, thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of teh fanatic. They were
deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at
death.

Thus we see the
protagonist straight away in his warfare mode. He is engaged in a life-or-death struggle
and there is no place for sensitivity on the battlefield of the rooftops where he is. Of
course, this continues until straight after his success against his enemy when he is
able to kill him. Then, as he watches his opponent fall to the ground, the sniper
experiences a sudden change of heart:

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The sniper looked at his enemy falling and he
shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse. The sweat stood
out in beads on his forehead. Weakened by his wound and the long summer day of fasting
and watching on the roof, he revolted from the sight of the shattered mass of his dead
enemy. His teeth chattered, he began to gibber to himself, cursing the war, cursing
himself, cursing
everybody.

Now, note the
sudden change in his character. This is definitely not a "gradual change" as suggested
in your statement. This is an immediate response to the end of an incredibly stressful
situation when we see the normal character of the protagonist reimpose itself and, in
this moment of internal conflict, we see the sensitivity of the protagonist. This is why
I believe that in this story we see the way that in warfare we need to supress our true
characters and become ruthless warriors.