The Importance Of Decision Making In Short Story

Every decision we make ultimately impacts our surroundings. Taking the time to think through before acting is an important strategy in decision-making. However, this does not always allow someone to make a better decision. In both short stories, “The Day of the Last Rock Fight” by Joseph Whitehill and “Lather and Nothing Else” by Hernando Tellez, the protagonists determine caution and care in deciding their course of action, which subsequently results in a negative impact on their lives. Whitehill and Tellez both feature the protagonists in their stories as cautious and thoughtful during their decision making process. In Whitehill’s story, Ronnie thinks thoroughly while deciding if he should tell the authorities about the murder, his friend, …show more content…
I would have to close the door. And the blood would continue on the floor, warm, permanent, unstoppable; onto the street, like a small scarlet brook. I am sure that with a strong stroke, a slicing cut, he wouldn’t feel any pain. He wouldn 't suffer. But what would I do with the body? Where would I hide it? I‚d have to run, leaving all of this, take cover far, far away. But they would follow me until they ran into me. (Tellez …show more content…
This burden is exemplified in the story by the nightmares that he faces at night. These nightmares signify the negative impact that the outcome of his decision has on him. If Ronnie had followed his gut feeling and reported the homicide, the outcome could have been different since Ronnie would not have to repress his feeling of the murder and Peter’s suicide could have been prevented as Peter would get apprehended at the school and would not have an opportunity to shoot himself. Correspondingly, In Tellez’s story the barber also faces an unfavourable impact caused by his contemplative decision. Tellez reveals that Captain Torres had further knowledge about the barber, “They kept saying that you would kill me. I came to find out if it was true. But killing’s not easy. Believe me, I know.” (Tellez 3). The barber’s stance on being a secretive revolutionary was not as secretive as he thought. The Captain knowing that the barber is a revolutionary and the Captain mentioning that “All of them [revolutionaries]” (Tellez 2) will be punished signifies that the Barber is going to be punished and possibly executed for being a revolutionary. The outcome could have been prevented if the barber had followed his gut instinct and killed the Captain then escaped by taking cover far away. Both stories reveal that the protagonists from each story ignored their gut instinct and choose to overanalyze their decisions