Just Lather, That's All

The overriding theme of "Just Lather, That's All" is that man is ultimately responsible for his own actions. Although we might often think that we're nothing more than the plaything of irresistible...

In "Just Lather, That's All," there are a number of reasons which contribute to the barber's decision not to kill Captain Torres. Here are three of them: The barber describes himself as being...

The barber is portrayed as a very moral man who undergoes a soul-searching experience but retains his standards. He has the opportunity to kill the man who is causing so many deaths of innocent...

In "Just Lather, That's All," the barber is very skilled at his profession and takes great pride in his work. This is shown by his preparation of the razor and shaving soap at the beginning of the...

In "Just Lather, That's All," the author uses a number of literary devices. Firstly, he uses a simile to describe the glide of the razor: The skin would give way like silk, like rubber, like the...

In the short story "Lather and Nothing Else," also known as "Just Lather, That's All," by Hernando Tellez, an official named Captain Torres comes into a barber shop for a shave. The barber, the...

The setting in this story is a barbershop located in a small village in Colombia. The name of the town is never mentioned in the story. More broadly, though it is never explicitly stated, the...

As has already been said, the razor is a very important symbol in the story. Among other things, one could say that it represents the changeable nature of power. Just as a razor can be wielded by a...

In this story, the Barber is secretly working as an informant for the rebels. Captain Torres, on the other hand, is tasked with bringing down the rebels and has already killed a great number of...

Captain Torres is rather imperious. He expects for his authority and commands to be obeyed without question. When he enters the barbershop, he issues an imperative, "Give me a shave." No ceremony...

The story is an intense meditation on a moral dilemma: should the barber murder the murderer who has come to his shop for a shave? Told from the point of view of the barber, the tone of the story...

The internal struggle of the barber in "Just Lather, That's All" by Téllez is the story's central conflict. The barber narrates his struggle making an important decision: should he kill his present...

The barber eventually comes to the conclusion that he will not kill Torres because he discovers something very central about himself, his identity, and what he can and can't do. This epiphany also...

Tellez set his compelling story in Latin America during a period of numerous military dictatorships that were opposed by rebel groups. Civil war plagued Latin America at this time, and individuals...

Imagery: Torres is introduced by his gun, his hat, and the way that he makes the barber tremble, well before he is even named. Heat is also used throughout the story both literally and...

The barber is faced with both a moral and professional dilemma: He would love nothing better than to cut the throat of Captain Torres, the man who had hunted down and killed and tortured so many of...

One theme of this brief story is that just because an action may feel justified does not mean it is easy to complete. The barber admits that when he heard the story of his rebel compatriots killed...

Hernando Tellez’s short story Just Lather, That’s All is supremely ironic in the “situational” sense in which “irony” can be defined. The reader expects the story to follow a certain path based...

The central conflict in "Just Lather, That's All" is whether or not the barber will slit the throat of the notorious Captain Torres as he sits defenseless getting a shave. Ultimately, the barber...

This question has been previously asked and answered on eNotes. Here is a link for you: http://www.enotes.com/just-lather-thats-all/q-and-a/what-characer-qualities-does-barber-captain-torres-104171

The short story "Just Lather, That's All" is mainly an interior monologue, a technique of narration that presents the thoughts that pass through the mind of the protagonist. This interior monologue...

The actual events in "Just Lather, That's All" could scarcely be more minimal. A man goes into a barber's shop for a shave. The barber shaves him and he leaves. Everything else is in the barber's...

The barber, who is clearly on the opposing side of his client's faction could easily harm this man who plans to kill all the “rebels” with whom the barber sympathizes. The barber looks calm and...

In the short story, "Just Lather, That's All," Captain Torres goes into the barbershop to see if the barber will attempt to kill him. The barber is a rebel, and the Captain has just returned from...

The last paragraph is significant because it reveals Captain Torres's true nature. Until this moment, our perspective of the captain has been colored by the barber's inner dialogue. According to...

This story takes place in a barbershop in Columbia, a country that has had many military revolutions. The narrator is the owner, and he is shaving a man well known for his violence and his ability...

Hernando Téllez's "Just Lather, That's All" contains numerous instances of sensory language that evoke the job of a barber. In order to evoke the job of a barber in a reader, a reader must be...

One potential thesis statement about "Just Lather, That's All" could be about the main character, the haircutter who narrates the story. The thesis could make a claim about why the narrator chooses...

The supreme irony of the Hernando Tellez short story, "Just Lather, That's All," concerns the secret identity of the barber. When Captain Torres enters the barber's shop, he announces that he wants...

The protagonist in the short story is the barber. Despite viewing himself as a rebel, he is unable to kill Captain Torres, his enemy. His reasons for not killing the captain are the result of his...

To answer this question, take a look at what the barber says on the subject of killing Captain Torres: I could cut this throat just so, zip! zip! I wouldn't give him time to complain and since he...

I would argue that he's neither. He sensibly realizes that, if he should go ahead and slit the Captain's throat, then the consequences for himself and his family are likely to be dire. Besides, the...

A man enters a barber shop in a small village in Colombia. The man is Captain Torres, the local military authority who is dirty and tired from hunting revolutionaries for the past few days. After...

When the Captain first approaches, the barber trembles with fear and, while shaving the Captain, most of his meditations are similarly fearful. However, immediately before he decides not to kill...

The suspense in Hernando Tellez's short story, "Just Lather, That's All," comes from the expectation that the barber may use his razor on the throat of his adversary, Captain Torres. The reader...

The title phrase in this story means that lather is all that the barber wants on his hands. He does not want to become a murderer or, really, a rebel. He only wants to be left to pursue his trade...

Whether the barber should have killed Captain Torres is a question that heavily depends upon one's personal feelings on revenge. Some might argue the barber had a duty to kill the Captain and...

The barber and Torres belong to different warring factions. Torres is Captain of his faction. He has done some totally vicious things to the rebels in the barber’s group. When Torres enters the...

Captain Torres knows that the barber is a member of the rebel group and has been warned that the barber will kill him if he goes in there. Torres seems to even invite the barber to kill him by...

Colombian author Hernando Tellez’s short story “Just Lather, That’s All” raises an age-old but still debated question regarding justifiable homicide. At sort of a micro level of discussion, this is...

In the short story "Just Lather, That's All," Captain Torres, the leader of a military unit who is hunting down revolutionaries, comes into a barber shop for a shave. The barber is a member of the...

Captain Torres and the barber are both enemies. The barber is a secret rebel, the sort hunted by Captain Torres and his soldiers. The barber initially thinks that his secret has not been discovered...

The conversation between Captain Torres and the barber in Hernando Tellez's short story, "Just Lather, That's All," takes on a matter-of-fact tone on the surface, but the reader is given the added...

In "Just Lather, That's All," the narrator's primary role is that of a barber, and it is clear that he really enjoys it. He mentions that he performs his work "honourably," and describes himself as...

The last paragraph of the story is rather short. I believe the most memorable lines in this paragraph are: In the doorway he paused for a moment, and turning to me he said: "They told me that...

Before coming to the barber shop, Torres had ordered four rebels to be shot. He then ordered the entire town to report to the patio of the school and to file before the bodies of the dead rebels,...

I would have to say that the protagonist of the story (the barber) shows a bit of each in this story. But overall, I think it's more of cowardice. You could say that he is showing courage because...

While lathering Torres, examining his beard, and listening to him explain how many rebels he has killed and is planning to kill, the barber has a conversation with himself, taking note of the ease...

Both Captain Torres and the barber speak to each other as if they have no secrets from one another in the Hernando Tellez short story, "Just Lather, That's All." Torres has just returned from...

There are no heroes in Hernando Tellez's short story, "Just Lather, That's All." Although Captain Torres' visit to the barber shop could be considered an act of bravery, the captain's many acts of...