Comparing The Sniper And Lather And Nothing Else

“The Sniper” and “Lather and Nothing Else” are two individual and unique stories. When you read and pay attention to both stories you will realize they’re not as different as you think they are. It may be hard to realize at first since the obvious things are different, like the time and place of the story, but when you peel back the layers and look deeper into them you’ll see their similarities. Along with similarities they both have a distinct difference. Most differences are pretty evident if you read these two stories and most would find it easier to spot the differences other than similarities, as do I.

Similarities in “The Sniper” and “Lather and Nothing Else” can be difficult to spot if all you think about is the plot, but the character’s

themselves are quite alike. The two main characters, the sniper and the barber both have things in common.

The first example of their similarities are, they both are smart independent men who think things through. In “The Sniper”, the sniper is always thinking about new ways to trick his enemies and different plans of attack. He had the plan to let his rifle drop onto the street and let his left arm dangle over the roof lifelessly so the other sniper would think he was dead so he could get his enemy without them knowing he was actually alive. That shows he thinks thing through and always has a plan. The barber in “Lather and Nothing Else” also had to make a plan and make a decision on killing Torres. “I would cut his throat, so , swish, swish! He would not even have time to moan, and with his eyes shut he would not even see the shine of the razor or the gleam in my eye.” The barber then speculated all the negatives sides of killing someone. He thought it through and choose to not kill him. Another noticeable similarity is that they both have the opportunity to kill someone regardless if they went through with it or not. The sniper did infact kill someone, he saw an enemy so to keep himself alive and his job as a republican sniper is to kill them. He had the chance and he took it. The barber however did have

the enemy in this hands, literally. He was a barber, hens his name, and Torres came in for a shave, knowing that the barber might kill him, because they have different political viewpoints. The barber could have sliced Torres neck open and killed him. He had full capability of going through with it just like the sniper did. The last and final reason why the sniper and the barber are similar, to most may not be completely noticeable. They both, the sniper and the barber strongly believed in what they represented. The sniper was a republican and was unapologetic about being one. He was labeled as a republican sniper. He never once wanted to change who he was or who he fought for. The same idea goes for the barber. The barber was a revolutionary. He challenged the idea of the status quo, they typically can get violent but at that moment he was only thinking about because we was considered to be barber in that point of the time, he thought of it because he was still a revolutionary.

There are evident differences in the story, no one can deny that.

There are VERY obvious differences and maybe some not so obvious. One difference I’ve discovered is that if the sniper didn’t make his plan fast and act quick he could have died himself. It was a life death situation that needed quick and logical thinking, there was a big threat. The barber on the other hand, he had plenty of time to decide and really it was all up to him. He either killed Torres or he let Torres leave. I don’t think there was any threat or quick decision making that had to be done. He wasn't really in any danger in that moment. Basically what I’m trying to say is that there wasn’t anyone coming after the barber ready to kill him immediately, the sniper had more risk. So another difference is the sniper was a republican and the barber was a revolutionary. A republican is a political form of government and the sniper is going out risking his life to try and kill enemies. A revolutionary on the other hand like I said before, is someone who fearlessly advocates radical change. They aren’t afraid to go against was what everyone is doing if they think it is wrong and try to implant different ideas and won’t let anything stop them. The last and final difference is probably the most obvious, the setting. The setting in “The Sniper” takes place in Dublin, Ireland. The setting in “The Sniper” takes place while the Irish civil war is going on in mid 1922. “Lather and Nothing Else” on the other hand

takes place somewhere in South America. Two different sides of the world, different people, different types of attacks and very different cultural crisis. Because they're on two different sides of the world you can get a better picture of what the setting should look like, and these two look completely different.

While comparing and looking at the similarities and differences I’ve come to the conclusion that these two stories are a lot more different than alike. The main characters have very different conflicts with other people. The sniper knows he’s going to kill someone or at least attempt no matter what, and has a very determined personality. He’s in the middle of the Irish War and will do anything to survive it. He doesn’t appear to have a side job or anything he can turn back too. The barber however has a promising life, he’s a barber and most people don’t know he’s a revolutionary so he can kind of keep it as a secret. We don’t really know if they’re a major war going on. Also the barber controls what happens to Torres. He can either keep him alive or kill him in an instant. He seems to have an indecisive personality when it comes to the harm of other and when his career is on the line. In conclusion these two stories do have their similarities but arguable have more differences.