Irony And Imagery In Just Lather That's All

Killing is not easy, it is even harder to kill a fellow human being even if they are horrible. In the short story “Just Lather That’s All” by Hernando Tellez we are introduced to a character Captain Torres, who doesn’t have a problem with killing but he also thinks it is not easy to kill. However, the barber, who is giving the Captain a shave, battles, whether to kill Torres or not. The author uses irony, foreshadowing, and imagery to create a shocking story, that keeps the reader reading. In conclusion, this extraordinary story explores the thin line between doing what is best and what is honourable.

Tellez uses extraordinary free indirect narration to lead us in one direction, then drives us the opposite way in the end. The ruthless captain strides into the barber shop. He hangs his military cap and gun holster on the wall and demands a shave, "It's hot as bell. Give me a shave." He sits in the chair looking “fatigued” and “reddened” from the scorching sun, after a four-day expedition, looking for rebels. He

When the Captain entered the shop, hanged his military cap and pistol, the barber began to “tremble.” The author indicates in this line that the frightened barber will have some trouble with his customer. Throughout the story Hernando Tellez uses imagery to describe parts, specifically, when the barber is deciding to eliminate the Captain. During the shave, the author uses phrases like “trying to keep blood from oozing from the pores” or “and the blood would keep inching along the floor, warm, ineradicable, uncontainable, until it reached the street, like a scarlet stream” to describe what is happening. As for irony, the Captain knew the barber was part of the rebels and still went to him, to see if he would try to kill him. Another example is when the barber didn’t kill the man he hated, yet he still felt good about