In "Just Lather, That's All," the author develops the idea that an individual will consider the consequences of a challenge before carrying it out. This is shown most clearly through the character of the barber who feels duty-bound to murder his enemy, Captain Torres, when he comes into his shop for a shave.

Although the captain has killed many of the barber's revolutionary friends, the barber does not take any action until he has fully considered the possible consequences of the murder. On the one hand, for example, he knows that other revolutionaries will view him as a hero if he kills the captain but, on the other hand, he cannot shake the feeling that murder does not solve any of society's problems:

No one deserves to have someone else make the sacrifice of becoming a murderer. What do you gain by it? Nothing.

It is not until the barber has fully considered each of these positions that he makes the decision not to kill the captain.