Historical Fiction - A Comparison

Historical fiction stories have many methods as to how they incorporate a real-life historical event into the story, it's plot, it's characters and etc. One very common method, is basing the whole entire story off of real experiences people encountered during a particular historically significant event; that method usually leads to the story including names of objects that were utilized during the event, or names of countries that were involved. "Beware the Dog" by Roald Dahl and "The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty, are short stories that are historical fiction-- and the ways these stories incorporate historical events are similar. 

In "Beware the Dog" by Roald Dahl, the author includes many clues that lead to the historical event the story is set in; World War 2. The most obvious clue being the names of various aircrafts that were mentioned throughout the story. These aircrafts include the Junkers 88, a German combat aircraft that was utilized during World War 2, and the Spitfire, a British aircraft that was also used during World War 2. Mentioning the names of objects that were used during the historical event, is one way this story used a historical context. Additionally, stating or setting the story in the countries or places that were involved in World War 2, such as Germany, France and Brighton, is a method that the author uses, to incorporate the historical event. Another way Roald Dahl uses a historical context in his story, are the events he makes his characters go through. The protagonist, William, is a pilot; an occupation that was directly involved with the war itself. William also lost his left leg during combat, and when captured by his enemies, he remembers his intelligence officer's advice of not spilling any meaningful information to his enemies. By making his characters go through occurrences that real people during the time of the event personally encountered, the author achieves using a historical context in his story. Similar methods are also used in "The Sniper". 

"The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty, is a story set in the Irish Civil War, and unfolds with the protagonist saying that there was a war between the Republicans and the Free Staters. Though it was never mentioned that the story was set in the Irish Civil War, using the names of the groups of people that were involved in the historical event, leads to the readers inferring that the story is set in that particular war. Similar to "Beware the Dog", "The Sniper" also mentions names of places, such as Dublin, that was involved in this significant event. The story even goes as far as mentioning names real buildings, like the O'Connell Bridge that was present during the war. This is similar to what Roald Dahl did in his story, "Beware the Dog" when he mentioned the names of aircrafts that were used during World War 2-- as both authors mentions specific objects or buildings that were present during the historical events their stories were set in. And similar to "Beware the Dog", the author chooses the protagonist to have an occupation that is directly related to the war; the protagonist is a sniper. Furthermore, the author also chooses the protagonist to experience events that are based off of what people experienced in the Irish Civil War, which is fighting against people he knew; his brother. Placing a character through similar events real people did in a historical event, is a very common method authors use to write historical fiction. 

In "Beware the Dog" and "The Sniper" both of the authors used similar methods to incorporate a historical context into their stories. The authors include names of specific objects and groups of people that were included that were included in their historical events, stated and setting the story in the countries, made their protagonists have an occupation that was directly related to the war itself, and placed the protagonists through situations that are based off of what real people in the event encountered.