Weaknesses are an essential part of life, as they give us opportunities to learn from our own flaws and they form the way we live our lives. Protagonists of the short stories “The Sniper”, “A Sound of Thunder”, and “Harrison Bergeron” all show share a form of weakness that affects the their decisions and the trajectory of their lives. The main characters from these three stories share the same weakness or flaw; they are impulsive.
The protagonist of “The Sniper” (the sniper) had a major flaw that eventually led him to kill his own brother. The sniper’s job was to kill enemies that were on the other side of the civil war. Early in the story, after lighting a cigarette, “a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof. The sniper took another whiff and put out the cigarette. Then he swore softly and crawled away to the left”. The sniper was targeted by an unknown person…show more content… The main character, Eckels, went with a group of people on a hunting mission back in time. He was specifically instructed not to stray from the path that had been created for this group. Otherwise, the present they know could be drastically changed. After the hunting mission exited the time machine and walked along the prescribed path, they came into contact with their target, ; a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Once Eckels saw the size of the beast, he became frightened and said “It can’t be killed. We were fools to come. And now I want out.” Fearing for his life, he disobeyed his instructions. Eckels “walked blindly towards the edge of the Path, his gun limp in his arms, stepped off the path and walked, without knowing it, in the jungle.” His desire to escape was so great that he did not even consider the instructions of the safari guide. When the tour group returned from the past, the present had been altered drastically because of Eckels’ impulsive
