Lather and Nothing Else

1 Lather and Nothing Else 8. Hernando Tellez’s short story, Lather and Nothing Else, explores the theme that humans will make a decision based on what they feel is right, no matter what is expected from them. A rebel, the local barber, must choose between two actions and after much conflict he chooses the action which he can best live with. When Captain Torres enters the barber’s shop, the barber is expected to kill him as the Captain is an enemy of the rebels. It is evident when the barber thinks, “ with the enemy in my house I felt a certain responsibility” (Tellez 344). As fellow rebels also saw the Captain enter the shop, they expect the barber to follow out with his actions. The expectation upon the barber to kill Captain Torres refers to the “certain responsibility” that he feels. However, after much contemplation, the barber decides that he does not want the burden of murder on him. As stated, “ But I don’t want to be a murderer...I don’t want to stain my hands with blood” (Tellez 346). The barber weighs the consequences of murdering someone and decides that killing the Captain is not worth the hardships. The barber begins to feel uncomfortable with the idea of executing the murder, as it is not his place to do so. In the beginning, the barber kept thinking how easy it would be to kill Captain Torres, but in the end he decides against it because he does not feel it is the right thing to do. The barber chooses the action of sparing the Captain as it is the decision he can best live with, even though he was expected to kill him. 9. Hernando Tellez’s short story, Lather and Nothing Else, contains many effective similes that contribute to the story. A simile is a comparison between two unrelated things using the words ‘like’ and ‘as’. The narrator uses many similes throughout the text to emphasize his meaning. For instance, “ It’s hot as the devil” (Tellez 343). The devil is related to the colour red 2 and the element of fire. Both these things are also associated with heat as red is often used for the colour of fire and fire is naturally very high in temperature. Using the devil to refer to the degree of temperature means that it must be very hot. When the narrator uses this simile, he is putting emphasis on how hot it is outside. Another example is, “ The skin will yield like silk, like rubber, like the strop” (Tellez 346). The narrator is explaining how easy the razor would pierce Captain Torres’s skin and kill him. He is relating it to the action of cutting silk, which can be done quite easily. This simile demonstrates how much power the barber holds at that moment, and that the barber must begin to make his decision as he has a clear opportunity in front of him. Another simile used in this text is, “ But the blood would go flowing along the floor, warm, indelible, not to be staunched, until it reached the street like a small scarlet river” (Tellez 345). A “scarlet river” is often referring to a flowing line of blood. In this context, it is used to describe how much blood would come out of Captain Torres. A river cannot be easily stopped, referring to how Captain Torres’s flow of blood would keep flowing too. Although exaggerated, it puts emphasis on the idea that it would be easy for the barber to kill the Captain at that moment. The narrator uses many similes throughout the short story as a way of putting emphasis on his meanings. 10. Lather and Nothing Else by Hernando Tellez contains many literary devices that help contribute to the story. There are many examples of literary devices such as hyperbole, metaphors and foreshadowing. A hyperbole is an exaggeration of words to convey a meaning. For instance, “ It’s hot as the devil” (Tellez 343). Clearly, the temperature is not literally as hot as the devil or in other terms, hell. The character uses these words to convey the heat he feels, but he does not mean the actual words as he would not be in a well condition if it was actually 3 that hot outside. A metaphor is a direct comparison between two unrelated concepts. For example, “ everything becomes a sea of blood” (Tellez 345). This metaphor compares the slaughter that would occur and the blood associated with it to a sea composed of blood. A sea would require a lot of blood, emphasising how many deaths would happen to create that sea. A comparison like this is very effective as it is easy to understand and has a lasting meaning. Foreshadowing is when there are clues throughout a narrative as to the potential outcome of events. A clear example would be, “And when I recognized him, I started to shake” (Tellez 342). This clue is given very early in the short story, before we are introduced to the characters. It tells the reader that the protagonist is already familiar with the antagonist in the short story. The protagonist starts to shake once he recognizes who he is about to come to face with, implying that he is either scared or hateful of the antagonist. The reader comes to this conclusion as a person tends to shake out of intense fear or hatred. The reader does not know the antagonists true feelings yet, but can infer through these implications. As the reader knows how the protagonist generally feels towards the protagonist, they can further conclude that an event will later occur where the protagonist must confront his feelings and work through them. As guessed, the protagonist does later have to choose a decision to follow his feelings or go against them. The narrator uses many literary devices throughout the narrative to add to his story and meanings. 12. In the short story, Lather and Nothing Else by Hernando Tellez, the barber must make a crucial decision to murder Captain Torres or spare him. The barber decides to not kill Captain Torres as he does not want to deal with the guilt or the burden of murder for the rest of his life. Personally, the barber made the right decision to stick to his values and what he thinks is right. He made a decision that he can live with, one that will hold no guilt and that is morally right. 4 Others can argue that the barber made the wrong decision as the Captain already knows that he is a revolutionary as stated, “they told me you would kill me” (Tellez 346), and that the barber just lost his last chance to kill his enemy. A rebel would only try to kill the Captain, implying that the Captain already knew the barber’s true identity. The barber cannot live a peaceful life anymore as the Captain will later try to kill him. Hence, if the barber had killed him first, he would have lived on. However, this way, the barber would have to live with the feelings of guilt upon him and run from the government for the rest of his life. Personally, it is better to live guilt-free and have to run away from the Captain than to deal with guilt and have to run away from the government. Therefore, even though both choices had their consequences, the barber made the right decision to not kill Captain Torres.