ipl-logo

Symbolism In Just Lather That's All

785 Words4 Pages

Thesis:
The effective use of literary elements are crucial to enhance the understand of readers and provide them with the suspense that the author intends to create by reading the story. Every successful and effective story possess certain qualities, which when put together result in an enticing, suspense filled story. When used skillfully, these literary elements produce some of the world’s most renowned works. “Just Lather, That’s All” is no different. Hernando Tellez effectively uses the literary elements setting, point of view, and symbolism in his work to create suspenseful story.
Firstly, setting is used to heighten suspense by creating a tense atmosphere. The narrative takes place in a South American country immersed in war and violence. A battle has been raging between the revolutionary army, and the Colombian …show more content…

A barbershop is a place where men come to get their facial hair cut by a barber. Torres sits down, without any weapons and exposes his neck to a sharpened shaver. In this situation, the razor is a symbol. The blade could either be used in a professional manner; a tool to “rejuvenate” Torres.It could also be used to inflict pain upon Torres, an opportunity to avenge his fellow rebels, by slitting his throat. To further increase readers’ suspense, he remarks, “ My destiny depends on the edge of this blade. I can turn my hand a bit more, press a bit more and sink it in… A blade like this doesn’t fail”. In these lines, the protagonist remarks that with the given situation and his prowess as a barber, a simple push of the blade could kill Torres. Therefore, the razor is a physical object which represents the opportunity to kill an enemy. This symbol effectively represents the suspense building up, because if the barber chooses to kill Torres, it could be done with a swift slash to his neck and there would have been nothing he could do about

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

    1380 Words  | 6 Pages

    The resulting work is historical fiction, a recreation of the lives of three Dominican sisters—Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabal— who were murdered for their attempts to overthrow Trujillo the same year Alvarez's family fled to the United States. The Maribal sisters are heroic women known by their revolutionary name Las Mariposas (The Butterflies). The core of the book is made up of chronological reminiscences by the murdered sisters from childhood to the time of their brutal demise. “The Mirabals are a traditional provincial Dominican family, portrayed in clichéd fashion—a middle¬class rural clan anchored by the inevitably philandering but supportive patriarch and the warm, caring and wise mother”

    Read More

  • The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: Literary Analysis

    885 Words  | 4 Pages

    A short stories plot has a major effect on the theme. Themes of the stories affect not only the writer but also the readers in modern day. Within in the short story, “The Things They Carried,” readers can connect to the author by understanding

    Read More

  • The Contents Of A Dead Man's Pockets By Ray Bradbury

    555 Words  | 3 Pages

    Authors use many literary elements of tone to demonstrate the overall tone they want to be shown to the reader. The story, “The Contents of a Dead Man’s Pockets”, is filled with these elements. Through the use of this, the author exposes the tone and their other goals in the story. The story uses diction, imagery, and details most frequently and are the key elements to understanding the tone of the story. Diction is an element of tone which describes the author’s words and their feelings towards something.

    Read More

  • In The Time Of The Butterflies Religion Essay

    741 Words  | 3 Pages

    It provides a role in character development shown predominantly in Patrias character. It shows the extent of Trujillo’s actions against the Dominican people by showing Patrias desperateness for her son. These examples depicted in the book show how the theme of religion has an impact on In the Time of the

    Read More

  • Hernando's Washington Argumentative Essay

    529 Words  | 3 Pages

    From my point of view, is that Hernando’s culture is what made him commit the crime. In the article on page 25, it stated, “When his sister was raped, the police would not help her; they would not even give her a ride home. Also, when his brother was murdered, no one moved to identify the killer, much less to arrest him.” In other words, the police did not put much attention to the crimes that had happened to his own family. Both situations, the police had the opportunity to be involved and help but instead, they

    Read More

  • Suspense In Hernando Tellez's Lather And Nothing Else

    673 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Hernando Tellez’s short story, “Lather and Nothing Else”, Tellez successfully creates suspense throughout the story, a story about a barber and his dilemma of whether or not he should kill his enemy, who also happens to be his client. The story is entertaining yet suspenseful from using a variety of strategies to create suspense throughout the story. Tellez uses two main methods throughout the story, first person point of view and the two main conflicts introduced in the story. Since Tellez uses first person point of view it makes the reader feel like they are the main character himself. The reader goes through the main character's thought process, making readers wonder what the main character is planning.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Julia Alvarez: A Genetic Of Justice

    543 Words  | 3 Pages

    In paragraph 27 it states ,”there were still old cronies of the dictator around who would love an excuse to go after my family after my father ,after her ,” the cronies were loyal servants to the dictator even when he was dead so alvarez's mother thought they were still in danger of being captured or killed ,because of the cronies the mother would live in fear unlike alvarez who didn't fully believe they would come after them . Alvarez wrote her novels knowing they may wreak havoc on her family members who were still in the dominican republic and maybe her parents and sisters. In paragraph 29 and 30 it talks about the last novel she wrote about the island and how her mother thought about it ,”I don't care what happens to us i'm so proud of you ,” her mother says ,alvarez wrote the novel at the risk of her family but her mother and her new the story had to be told and the things the people had to go through

    Read More

  • Just Lather That's All Summary

    425 Words  | 2 Pages

    The barber had the chance to kill him with the razor when he was shaving near Torres’ Adam’s apple. The barber thought about slitting his throat with the razor but stopped himself when the following thoughts came to his mind. For example, he stated “a blade like this doesn’t fail. It is my best. But I don’t want to be a murderer, no sir.

    Read More

  • Most Dangerous Game Suspense Essay

    784 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, suspense is created through the use of foreshadowing, different points of view, and cliffhangers. Without suspense, the book would be boring and uninteresting to read. The author uses these three main techniques to keep the reader engaged. First off, Connell uses foreshadowing to create suspense by using appalling words to map out the near future, and by using dialogue. The author uses dreadful words like “dark” and “cannibal” to foreshadow the daunting future.

    Read More

  • Incarnation Of Burned Children Literary Analysis

    506 Words  | 3 Pages

    The utilization of symbolism, diction and syntax all foreshadow the ending of the story and help the reader understand the meaning of

    Read More

  • Rafael Leonidas Trujillo: A Genetics Of Justice

    859 Words  | 4 Pages

    Alvarez tells a story through her parents where they were trapped in the closet. By the end of this story Julia overcomes her fear and writes two books about it. The generational curse was broken. Trujillo was so crooked he made all of the residents hang a picture in their house in his honor.

    Read More

  • August Heat Literary Analysis

    469 Words  | 2 Pages

    Literary Analysis Suspense. It's what makes us sit on the edge of our seats at movies, or has us biting our nails as we read. It’s the backbone behind any classic horror film where the babysitter keeps getting unknown phone calls about checking the children and she asks the police to trace the call only to get a call back saying it's coming from upstairs.

    Read More

  • The Consequences Of A Good Barber's Reputation

    202 Words  | 1 Pages

    Secondly, by killing his customer, the barber would ruin his reputation as a good barber. If he were to kill Torres, it is very possible that there would be a witness, since across the street, “the grocery store [had] two or three customers in it” (50). If a passerby witnessed a murder, townspeople would hear about the bloodshed in the barbershop, causing customers to go elsewhere for a shave due to their fear of also being killed in the barber’s chair. This would destroy his business and reputation. Furthermore, the barber says he is “a good barber, the best in the town” (50).

    Read More

  • Literary Techniques In Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

    1062 Words  | 5 Pages

    The novel uses many literary techniques such as foreshadowing and irony to build a strong connection between every scene and builds closer and closer to the development of the murder. There are many foreshadowing events which develop in the story before the death of Santiago. The murder is avoidable, but nobody stops it from happening. The dream, the weather, and nature all foreshadow Santiago 's death. The instance of foreshadowing at the beginning of the story is Santiago’s dream.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Time In Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

    1078 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the narrator sets out on a journey to assemble the remaining pieces of truth surrounding the murder of Santiago Nasar, twenty-seven years after incident. As the narrator recounts the series of facts relating to Santiago’s death, the reader becomes aware of the emptiness, as an accumulation of these informations can’t recreate the event itself. Judging both the narrator’s desire to revisit the past and the foretold events leading up to Santiago’s death, the narrative explores the ways in which the past and the future have an effect upon the present state. The narrator uses the form of a chronicle to organize time into a confined segment, he engages in the nature of time itself and the analysis of the murder. Captivated by the murder that occurred nearly 30 years ago, the narrator continues to look for the truth surrounding Santiago’s death out of desire secure the past.

    Read More

More about Symbolism In Just Lather That's All

Open Document