Title: Just Lather, That's All Author: Hernando Tellez Year of Publication: 1950
Genre/Sub-genre: short story,
Language Style: anxious/emotional, Thrilling, Dramatic, Anticipatious
Tone:Suspenseful, Gripping, Fearful, Anxious, Anticipation
Place/Setting: inside a Barber Shop
Social Class:Working class/Military, blue callor
Time Frame: 30 min-1 hour , " the four days taken up by the latest expedition in search of our troops." (165)
Characters:
- The Barber
- Captain Torres
Ambiance:Ironic, serious, intense, suspenseful, contemplative
Themes/Motifs:
- Death:
- Murder:
- Torture: at the school house
- The duality in his decision (169) honor, justice, morality, duality, duty - "Yes, I was secretly a rebel, but I was also a conscientious barber, and proud of the precision required of my profession."
- Fear
- Conviction: The barber knew his place and followed his conviction (169),
- Identity: they both had strong roles and character (166), Murder: the barber was deciding whether or not he was going to kill him and become a murderer (168),
- Heroic: if murder was committed he would have been a hero for his cause (168),
- Rebellion: The barber was working for the rebel cause (167),
- Secrecy: “Yes, I was secretly a rebel” (167),
- Making Choices: The duality in his decision; he was either going to be a hero or a murderer (169),
- War: Takes place during a civil war in their country (166)
- Morality: Whether to get back at someone for something they did pertaining to you.
- Justice:
- Honor: "You came to me for a shave and I perform my work honorably. I do not want blood on my hands" (169)
Proper Nouns:
Senses:
- Sound: "The razor rasped along, making its customary sound” (167)
- Sight: “Seeing that his skin ended up clean, soft, and healthy” (167)
- Hearing: Listened to Captain Torres talking about his work (165-166)
- Tasting:
- Touching: “the cool caress of the soap” (166),
- Tactile
- strong
- razor, gun belt and cap = violence
- “But the sight of the mutilated bodies kept me from noticing the face of the man who had directed it all, the face I was not about to take into my hands” (166) =
- “He seemed younger, less burdened by years that when he had arrived. I suppose this always happens with men who visit barber shops” (168), =
- “I don’t want blood on my hands, Just lather, that’s all.” (169) = the title of the story
Symbolic Elements: “Taking pains that no single pore emitted a drop of blood” (167), “Pearl of blood” (167), “Under the stroke of my razor Torres was being rejuvenated” (168), “scarlet stream” (168), Shaving cream
Oddities: “A man of imagination, because who else would have thought of hanging the naked rebels and then holding target practice on their bodies?” (166) , He was so close to the enemy yet he did not kill
Cultural Elements: The barber’s pride of doing his job to the best of his abilities (167)
Literary Devices:
- onomatopoeia - "I could cut his throat just so - zip, zip!"
- simile - "skin would give way like silk, like ruber," “It’s hot as hell” (165), “Like a little scarlet stream” (168), "sweating as much as I" (168)
- Personification: “The razor responded beautifully” (167), "the razor continued on its downward south stroke." (167)
- Metaphor: “sea of blood” (168)
Intriguing Quote:
- "Murder of hero? My destiny depends on the edge of this blade." (169),
- “and it goes on like this until everything is a sea of blood” (168),
- “He slit his throat while he was shaving him-a coward. And then on the other side. The avenger of us all.” (168),
- “They told me that you’d kill me. I came to find out. But killing isn’t easy. You can take my word for it.” (169)
- "He should have let it grow like some poets or priests do" (167) - I picked this quote because i'm trying to figure out whether he's calling a priest or poet a liar or if its beacuse torres is speaking so much.
- "..., because I'm a barber who does things properly." he takes his job very seriously (167) "I perform my work honorably ... " (169)
Foreign or Unfamiliar Terms: strop
Dictionary Work:
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