Just Lather That's All Summary

In the short story, “Just Lather,That’s All” by Hernando Tellez, a rebel barber conceals his identity and faces the dilemma of whether or not to kill his customer, Captain Torres. Ultimately, he decides not to do so, then Captain Torres discloses the fact that he knows him and was only there to find out if he will actually kill him. In several ways, having the short story written in the first person point of view is very essential. Firstly, the point of view allowed the readers to be informed about the characters’ personalities. In this way, barber’s secret identity is revealed. His train of thoughts and memories of his past were ways for the audience to be able to sympathize with him and his people. Similarly, Captain Torres’ distasteful character …show more content…
Secondly, the barber’s point of view reflects how the barber and Captain Torres are, in a way, each other’s character foils. At that time, people of different professions have different perspectives on how to attain honour. In the barber’s eyes, murdering him would defy the way he sees himself and his job. He “prides himself on never allowing this to happen to a client”, referring to accidentally opening up a single customer’s pore. It can be seen that the “conscientious” barber treats his customers equally, and as equals, despite their atrocious backgrounds. Meanwhile, Captain Torres says that “killing isn’t easy”, but it is revealed that he kills numerous people in a gory manner, as long as they are rebels, and takes pride on it. He does not need to analyze his actions, and he is “not afraid” and a “calm man”, unlike the anxious barber. Lastly, the barber’s point of view contributed to other main fiction elements. Knowing that he is a rebel, it sets the atmosphere to be somewhat tensed and uneasy. The audience is made apprehensive by the thought that at any time, Captain Torres can find out, and get him