“Coward or Hero?”
Cowardice is knowing what you should do and then declining to do it. This is most evident in the short story “Just Lather That’s All”. It is a story about a barber who prides himself in being the ‘best barber in town’. The Barber faces a tough dilemma between killing Captain Torres or giving him the shave he is expecting. The story indicates that the Barber knows that the right thing to do is to kill the captain, but he portrays himself as a coward. He has no courage, cares too much for his reputation and is selfish. The barber is supposedly a rebel, however he would much rather care about his own safety and livelihood than to realize how many of his friend’s lives are endangered.
As a human being with good morals, it is …show more content…
He analyzes the consequence to benefit him and no one else. “But what would I do with the body? Where would I hide it? I would have to flee, leaving all I have behind, and take refuge far, far away. But they would follow until they found me.” (Just Lather, That’s All). The barber was worrying about his own safety and livelihood, because the captain tells him that he is going to kill all the rebels. “Pretty soon they will all be dead” (Just Lather, That’s All). By doing nothing, it shows that the barber – would rather keep his shop and his job, than to save the lives of the people from his town. As well, he would rather be considered as an honorable barber than a murderer. This indicates that he is not loyal towards his friends. By not killing Captain Torres he has betrayed his fellow rebels and endangered them. In a way the barber is a murderer just like the captain – but of his own people. The Captain is at war with the rebels: killing all of them, publicly torturing and mutilating bodies. His job is to eliminate all of the rebels. Torres choses to tell the barber that he will continue to kill all of the revolutionaries – which the barber is a part of. “When asked by the barber if he was going to have a firing squad to kill the rebels, Torres says, ‘Something like that, but a little slower.’”(Just Lather, That’s All) He repeatedly tells the barber of the number of men …show more content…
It is very obvious that the barber is a coward when he admits, “They would follow me until they would find me. ‘Captains Torres’ murderer. He slit his throat while he was shaving him- a coward.’ (Just Lather, That’s All). The barber was too concerned with what everyone would have to say about him, that he did not do the right thing – which was to kill the captain – even though he was well aware of what he should have done. In addition, killing the captain would also reveal his true identity as a spy for the rebels, and by blowing his cover, he would no longer be useful as an operative. The writer even shows that there were witnesses who have seen the captain come in. “It was likely that many of our faction had seen him enter. And an enemy under one's roof imposes certain conditions. I would be obliged to shave that beard like any other one, carefully, gently, like that of any customer, taking pains to see that no single pore emitted a drop of blood.”(Just lather, that’s all.) Having people witness the captain coming in for a shave, allows them to identify the barber as the murderer, causing him to leave town. Secondly, the barber may well have become a hero to the rebels and their supporters had he killed Torres, but only by committing an act of murder himself. Otherwise the barber thought better of it, in part because he was
Cowardice is knowing what you should do and then declining to do it. This is most evident in the short story “Just Lather That’s All”. It is a story about a barber who prides himself in being the ‘best barber in town’. The Barber faces a tough dilemma between killing Captain Torres or giving him the shave he is expecting. The story indicates that the Barber knows that the right thing to do is to kill the captain, but he portrays himself as a coward. He has no courage, cares too much for his reputation and is selfish. The barber is supposedly a rebel, however he would much rather care about his own safety and livelihood than to realize how many of his friend’s lives are endangered.
As a human being with good morals, it is …show more content…
He analyzes the consequence to benefit him and no one else. “But what would I do with the body? Where would I hide it? I would have to flee, leaving all I have behind, and take refuge far, far away. But they would follow until they found me.” (Just Lather, That’s All). The barber was worrying about his own safety and livelihood, because the captain tells him that he is going to kill all the rebels. “Pretty soon they will all be dead” (Just Lather, That’s All). By doing nothing, it shows that the barber – would rather keep his shop and his job, than to save the lives of the people from his town. As well, he would rather be considered as an honorable barber than a murderer. This indicates that he is not loyal towards his friends. By not killing Captain Torres he has betrayed his fellow rebels and endangered them. In a way the barber is a murderer just like the captain – but of his own people. The Captain is at war with the rebels: killing all of them, publicly torturing and mutilating bodies. His job is to eliminate all of the rebels. Torres choses to tell the barber that he will continue to kill all of the revolutionaries – which the barber is a part of. “When asked by the barber if he was going to have a firing squad to kill the rebels, Torres says, ‘Something like that, but a little slower.’”(Just Lather, That’s All) He repeatedly tells the barber of the number of men …show more content…
It is very obvious that the barber is a coward when he admits, “They would follow me until they would find me. ‘Captains Torres’ murderer. He slit his throat while he was shaving him- a coward.’ (Just Lather, That’s All). The barber was too concerned with what everyone would have to say about him, that he did not do the right thing – which was to kill the captain – even though he was well aware of what he should have done. In addition, killing the captain would also reveal his true identity as a spy for the rebels, and by blowing his cover, he would no longer be useful as an operative. The writer even shows that there were witnesses who have seen the captain come in. “It was likely that many of our faction had seen him enter. And an enemy under one's roof imposes certain conditions. I would be obliged to shave that beard like any other one, carefully, gently, like that of any customer, taking pains to see that no single pore emitted a drop of blood.”(Just lather, that’s all.) Having people witness the captain coming in for a shave, allows them to identify the barber as the murderer, causing him to leave town. Secondly, the barber may well have become a hero to the rebels and their supporters had he killed Torres, but only by committing an act of murder himself. Otherwise the barber thought better of it, in part because he was