Murder is a reprobated action that is an inevitable part of war. It forces humans into immoral acts, which can manifest in the form of shootings or close-quarters combat. Ultimately a soldier's life is decided by the assassin, whether he carries out his actions or not. In the stories The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty and Just Lather, That's All by Hernando Téllez, the killer must decide the fate of his victims under circumstantial constraints. The two stories explore the difference between killing at close range versus killing at a distance and how these influence the killer's final decision. The perspective of the two stories allows the reader to perceive the sense of closeness that the protagonist has with his victim. The Sniper is told from an objective point of view, the reader is presented with only brief, factual information, maintaining a distance between the reader and the story. Just Lather, That's All on the other hand, is told from the first-person point of view, the reader intimately experiences the barber's thoughts and feelings. The different points of view serve to make the reader understand the distance that the protagonists have with their victims. The third-person point of view in The Sniper presents real information, similar to how the sniper only knows what he sees of his targets. There is no compassion for the sniper when he is shot because he is declared to be in a neutral position, just as he has no compassion for his victims because he has not met them personally nor does he know their thoughts and feelings. The first person point of view in Just Lather, That's All gives a sense of empathy for the barber, as his thoughts and reasoning are presented, there is an understanding of why d...... middle paper.... .. under any immediate danger (Téllez). Even though Captain Torres is very close to the barber, he is at a disadvantage because he is unarmed and is retrained by the sheet that the barber placed on him (Téllez). The proximity of the murderer to the victim creates circumstances in which he forces one to kill or allows one not to kill. There is an obvious relationship between killing at a distance and killing up close. As seen in The Sniper, killing is easier than in Just Lather, That's All, which involves killing up close. The different proximity of the protagonists to their victims influences their decision to kill. This reflects our modern society, where civilized countries can send troops into underdeveloped countries and kill people without any remorse because they are not directly involved in the acts of murder..