Editor's Choice
In "Just Lather, That's All," how does sensory description evoke the barber's job?
Quick answer:
The sensory descriptions in "Just Lather, That's All" vividly evoke the barber's job through visual and tactile imagery. Visual descriptions, such as the razor being sharpened on a strop and tested on the barber's thumb, highlight the preparation process. Tactile imagery, including the careful application of lather on sensitive areas like the chin and Adam's apple, underscores the barber's skill and precision, emphasizing the nuanced pressure required during a shave.
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 familiar with what a barber does.
Much of the sensory language of the text relies upon visual imagery, such as in the following quote:
I was passing the best of my razors back and forth on a strop. . . . I tested it on the meat of my thumb.
This quote relies on one's knowledge of how a barber prepares for a customer's shave. The movement of a razor over a sharpening cloth and the test of the sharpness on a barber's thumb are very visual aspects evoked through the author's use of sensory imagery.
Another aspect of sensory language's ability to evoke something in a reader depends on tactile imagery:
A little more lather here, under his chin, on his Adam's apple, on this big vein.
While not as obvious as the previous examples, this quote refers to a tactile image. For a barber to be good, or "the best in town" as the protagonist states, he must be able to feel the skin under the lather of the soap. He must know if the skin is the skin of the chin, Adam's apple, or over a vein. The pressure the barber applies to the razor differs based upon where the razor is on the skin. Therefore, this tactile imagery evokes the protagonist's knowledge of how a shave should be done over rather sensitive parts of the face. He must know, by touch, how much pressure to apply. The language of the text does not overtly state this, and a reader must be able to bring to mind how a barber functions in order to use this imagery to evoke the job of a barber.
Get Ahead with eNotes
Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.
Already a member? Log in here.