Character Analysis In Short Story 'Just Lather, That's All'

The outcome of this struggle reveals that his character is centered around integrity. The barber contemplates murdering Captain Torres while he is most vulnerable, “[Torres] leaned back and closed his eyes.” (pg.14A) This awoken the conflicting thoughts of how the barber’s reputation would be viewed, “ Murderer or hero?” (pg.15C) A continuation of his thoughts concluded that he did not want to be viewed as a murderer; “I don’t want blood on my hands.” (pg.15C) The barber valued honor, and as Captain Torres came to him for a shave he would do just that, “Just lather, that’s all.” (pg.15C) Another aspect that weighed heavily onto the barber as he was shaving Captain Torres where his values as a revolutionary. His strong values as a revolutionary strongly contradicted his values of honor and integrity. This posed a unique dilemma as the barber was forced to choose between avenging the executions of his fellow revolutionaries, and valuing respectability in his profession. His ultimate decision of letting Captain Torres leave peacefully further revealed his character as he chose integrity over what his fellow revolutionaries would have deemed right, “it was going to be very difficult to explain that I had him right in my hands and let him go peacefully.” (pg.14C) The barber's choice to not kill Captain Torres clearly

It is difficult to decide which is the right decision to make when a situation presents itself. Normally, people carefully think over the consequences both positive and negative and we may believe that we have made the right choice although, others may not think so. The barber's choice in the short story, "Lather and Nothing Else" written by Hernando Tellez, is negotiable. He is secretly a member of the resistance that is fighting against the government. The conflict is introduced when Captain Torres, an executioner, walks into the barber’s shop to get shaved. That gives the barber an opportunity to kill him and become a hero. As the barber shaves him he contemplates every possible outcome of

TRANSITION WORD*In the story “Just Lather that’s All” the antagonist’s name is Captain Torres who executes rebels who go against him and his crew. In the Captain’s perspective, he perceives the rebels as bad people and in the barber’s point of view he believes the Captain is the bad guy. Captain Torrez walks inside a barbershop and puts his gun into his holster and hangs his weapon up by the door, at the front of the shop. Captain Torrez and the barber both recognize each other and realize their enemies. The Captain and the barber don’t act upon anything and continue on with their dilemma. The barber doesn’t deny service to the Captain. Therefore, Captain Torrez sits in the barber’s chair and at this point he becomes a customer. There is a reversal of power and the barber becomes in control of the situation and has a razor blade in his hand. The razor blade becomes a symbol of destiny because the barber can alter his fate. He can use the blade to kill his enemy and take revenge by turning his

The story shows that the author/barber is too weak to kill a human being; he would feel remorse, and guilt. He is not selfish, and he is quite intelligent with his use of thoughts. The barber made his decision, with no direct consequences, they weren’t worth it. He “didn’t want blood on his hands.” The captain entered the shop for a haircut, normal or not, and that’s all he got. The local barber remains in his barber shop, even after facing his worst enemy and making difficult choices. The dilemma in this story is very large; he doesn’t know the consequences of each of the two choices. Two tough choices, both not very pleasant, he made the right choice. And the war continues unsolved. The ending is very indeterminate because you’re left asking yourself many questions about the story. You don’t know what happens to the barber or even the captain in that case. Did the captain rat out the barber and kill him? Or does he leave him be due to his innocence? Does the captain continue killing, even after saying how difficult it is? You’re wondering so many things about this story. And all questions are left

There is not a contradiction between what the narrator says and his behaviours. There is not a contradiction because The barber/Narrator did not kill Torres proving his point that he is a better person than Torres and is not a killer. During the shaving, the barber states "I don't want blood on my hands, just lather that's all." which shows that the barber did not have the intent to kill Torres he just wanted to be a barber. A person can be a rebel without being a bad person. Furthermore, another example showing that the barber is not a murderer because of his comments is because everyone gets thoughts like those sometimes. If they were put in a circumstance where they had their enemy in the grasp of their hands. They are normal thoughts if

As I was about to walk in the barber shop, I suddenly remembered what my Lieutenant had to say to me, “don’t go in the shop, he’ll kill you, he’s a rebel”. While these interpretations have a chance of being valid, I continue to believe that killing isn’t an easy task due to the repercussions that come along with it. When I entered the barber shop, I could see an individual who was tall and was carrying a muscular build. At this point of time, the barber had not yet noticed me, so I took a few steps and made sure I was visible in his peripheral vision. Eventually, I was noticed and a few seconds later, conversation was initiated on how my beard is four days late a shave. After several minutes of discussion, I was indeed ready for my face to become hairless. He sat me down in his

The writer starts off the essay in the kitchen of his own house with his mother straightening her friends’ hair with what they call a “hot comb” (323). The writer starts in the kitchen to introduce another meaning for

‘The barber man was small and flash, as barbers mostly are, he wore a strike-your-fancy sash, he smoked a huge cigar.’

Though the barber and Ronnie are in almost parallel situations, their values and pressure from society play a major role in determining the type of decisions they make, and in turn the eventual conclusion of the issue at hand. In “The Day of the Last

requesting a shave and begins discussing his plans for the captured rebels. Furthermore, this assessment by

The sniper and the barber have numerous things in common. Both characters are very gentle on what they choose to do. They think over things that they believe could affect them whatsoever. In “The Sniper”, the story states, “He paused for a moment, considering whether he should risk a smoke.”. This means he would think about what consequences would come with his choices. In “Lather and Nothing Else”, it declares, “I would have to shave his beard just like any other, carefully, neatly, just as though he were a good customer, taking heed that not a single pore should emit a drop of blood.”. It proves that the barber would have to carefully do his job just as if he was an honest, normal and respectful customer. Additionally, they both do their job. And are very commited too. The barber says, “ No, sir. You came in to

Majority of us guy’s go to a barbershop to get a sharp haircut or just to kick back and get a laugh out of all the crazy and funny story’s that customers or barbers like to share. At times that barber can be a role model to us younger gentlemen because some of us might of grew up without a father figure in are life and he could show a positive example of what a hardworking man should be or basically just because he is a man’s best friend because that 30-45 minute haircut could include some of the best advice that you have ever received from another person. But one thing that 50% of us didn’t know that Barber’s in the early ages were Barber surgeons, which meant that they were surgeons and also dentists performing most of the duty’s that a normal dentist or surgeon would do now a days. So that’s why I decided to do my Research paper on how barbering has changed over the year’s! I’ve spent various amount of hours shadowing barbers who are veterans in the barber business and well known and respected among the barber community and also been attending barber battles and competition’s around the Bay Area just so I can see the different types of styles a certain type of crowd might have over a certain crowd and to experience that real barber brother and sister connection there is that is well known and respected among different barbers nation and country wide. With this experience of shadowing barbers and spending time in barbershops I’ve seen the art of barbering is a beauty many

The government controls Alex’s free will by means of the Ludovico Technique, which makes Alex physically ill at the mere consideration of violent thoughts. When Alex is in the “staja” the Governor states that criminals “can best be dealt with on a purely curative basis. Kill the criminal reflex…”. The Governor does not understand that criminal intent is not an unrestrained reaction, but the result of autonomy. The voice of reason in the prison is the prison Chaplin who questions the ethics of interfering with God’s gift of moral choice, “goodness comes from within….goodness is something chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man”. Again through one of his characters, Burgess is stating that inhibiting a person’s free will is more evil than a person’s ability to choose evil over good. If one cannot choose, one ceases to be human and is exactly like a machine controlled by the government.

Márquez’s tone in Lorenzo’s actions was violent to make his opposition vivid, while Fermina’s fear influenced her decision to do something out of societal norms. In retaliation to his controlling ways, she cuts off her braid, which in Latin culture, represents beauty in women, symbolizing that she neither wanted nor cared to be affiliated by generic beauty expected by society, but instead to be identified as an individual.

Short stories can share themes, motifs, symbols, consequences, and plot lines, even if there is never any intention to share a common element between the stories. The stories can be written close together or in different decades and still be linked to the one another. They can also be worlds apart with different meanings in the end, but that does not stop them from having similar ideas expressed within them. The following three stories, “Lagoon” by Joseph Conrad, “The Rocking Horse Winner” by DH Lawrence, and “The Lady in the Looking Glass” by Virginia Woolf, are three totally different stories that share common threads that make them the stories that they are.