Suspense is an intense feeling that a reader has while reading and waiting for the outcome of an event. It's that "edge of your seat" feeling. The author of "The Sniper" is able to create suspense in this story by placing the protagonist in a dangerous and isolated situation. The Republican sniper is fighting in a civil war. That immediately places the sniper in a life threatening position, creating suspense. The same feelings wouldn't be created in readers if the author told you it was peace time and the sniper was barbecuing in his backyard.
Suspense is further created by making the protagonist an isolated sniper. Often snipers will work in pairs. One on the gun, and the other soldier is the spotter. He helps identify targets and protects the sniper's rear. This story's sniper is completely alone. That heightens the suspense because readers know that he isn't likely to get help from anybody. He's on his own. Readers really begin to feel the suspense and the danger that the sniper is in once the combat begins. The sniper is out numbered and outgunned. The enemy even has an armored vehicle. Once he's wounded, I feel that the suspense level is near its peak. Readers have no idea how the sniper is likely to survive the situation that he is in.
I also feel that suspense is created in this story by having the narration be a third person limited narration. Readers are not given all of the information. We only know what is going on inside the mind of the sniper. He may be relatively calm, but his thoughts definitely tell readers that he knows he's in a bad situation. Because the sniper is the only character that readers are allowed into the mind of, we intensely feel his predicament.
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