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Summary Of Suspense In Lather And Nothing Else

Decent Essays

How do authors write stories that make you want to read on? This is called suspense. Authors use different kinds of suspense techniques to keep the reader engaged in the story. The short story, “Lather and Nothing Else,” by Hernando Tellez is about a barber who has a hard time deciding whether or not to kill Captain Torres, the rebel executioner. The barber thinks that killing the Captain will make him a murderer, but a hero at the same time. Hernando Tellez creates suspense by foreshadowing, showing the character’s thoughts, and by using descriptive words.

The first way the author creates suspense in the story is by foreshadowing. When Captain Torres walked into the barber’s shop, the barber, “Started to shake,” (Tellez 1) indicating that the barber felt instant fear, when his enemy approached. This foreshadows that the barber knows the man and that he will be deciding to kill him or not. Foreshadowing creates suspense because it is a clue given to the reader. It is the reader’s job to guess what is going to happen in the story and that is what makes it interesting. Without foreshadowing the reader won’t be able to prepare what is going to happen next. Another scene where the foreshadowing technique is used was when the barber came up with his reasons to not kill Captain Torres. The barber contemplated in his mind, “Don’t want to stain myself with blood. Just lather, and nothing else,” (Tellez 2) which foreshadows that the barber is not going to commit murder.

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