Human Nature’s Response to External Pressure. “Damn him for coming, because I'm a revolutionary and not a murderer. And how easy it would be to kill him. And he deserves it. Does he. No. I am not a fan of a sham! What the devil!” This was said by the protagonist in Hernando Tellez’s “Just Lather, That’s all” as he faces an internal struggle trying to stick to his morals without receiving backlash from others. The main character, a barber whose undisclosed identity goes against the group led by his antagonist, Captain Torres, is constantly torn between his two roles. The story’s plot is centered around a main conflict between revolutionaries and their opposing executionaries, leading to tension between the two rival characters. The barber’s …show more content…
. . . I don't want blood on my hands. Just lather, that's all.” (2) This quote and its inclusion in the story’s title shows the significant revelation that the character comes to in the end and demonstrates the overarching message. Throughout the narrative, the author shows how much stress a human can face when they care so much about how they are perceived, especially if they may have to go against what they believe. This oppression can cause a person to question their values, and even consider betraying their self identity as they are torn between societal acceptance and personal convictions. Ultimately, humankind will remain morally motivated, even in the case of potential negative consequences. Though this instinctual course of action isn’t always the case. Some individuals tend to act impulsively during the prior stages of fear and self doubt leading up to the final reimplementation of our beliefs. While we want to follow through with what we know, it is natural to overthink a decision, especially if it has impactful outcomes. This tends to happen first when people face a quandary as we outweigh the various pros and cons, worrying what might happen if we don’t pick the right solution. Undoubtedly, this leads to a heavy consideration
... from previous experiences and bases future decisions on what they have experienced. When a person makes a decision that isn’t justified, they unknowingly change how they view future problems. If the decision has not been based in truth, it allows them a certain amount of unearned freedom to make wrong decisions, as opposed to when one make a proper decisions. It is crucial that every decision made is justified in order to keep their moral compass steady and to make the proper decisions when the choice is hard.
His client is Captain Torres, who is an evil man. The barber has been given the job of shaving his beard, and with the Captain sitting before him and a razor in his hand, the barber realizes how easy it would be to kill him. “I could cut his throat just so, zip! zip! I wouldn’t give him time to complain” (Tellez, 3). This develops the barber’s inner conflict as he is silently contemplating whether to simply shave him like a professional barber should, or kill him on the spot. The Captain’s fate is literally in the barber’s hands. This inner conflict is a result of his image, how he wants to be portrayed, because he is both a barber and a secret rebel. “My destiny depends on the edge of this razor” (3). Therefore, whatever he chooses ultimately results in how his future will unfold. If he kills the Captain, he could be seen as either a “murderer or hero” (3). If he doesn’t kill the Captain, he is letting the man go who is responsible for so many terrible things. After contemplating his choices and considering the consequences, he eventually solves his conflict by simply giving him a shave and letting Torres go. As a result, the barber indeed proves how one’s identity will result in how one’s future will
The nail is a complex cutaneous structure that consists mainly of the nail matrix, nail plate, nail bed, cuticle (eponychium), and nail folds. The cuticle is an outgrowth of the proximal fold, which is situated between the skin of the digit and the nail plate, providing a waterproof seal from external irritants and pathogens.
The call of conscience is continuous and it “summons” people to the challenge of assuming the ethical responsibility of affirming their freedom through resolute choice. For instance, people can structure and live their existence in a meaningful and moral way (Hyde, 2006, p. 39). Call of conscience is a driving force that pushes people to do what is morally right not only for them, but for others as well. Furthermore, call of conscience is a call of Being, “the call of Being demands courage from those who remain open to it and, in doing so, stand ready to acknowledge how their ways of thinking and acting may not be as authentic and respectful as they could possibly be” (Hyde, 2006, p. 51). A call of conscience persuades someone to do the right thing no matter what, even if a person helping someone else has the potential of having negative percussions for doing
“Lather And Nothing Else” by Hernando Tellez, shows suspense in many ways, by using key elements. The key element that Tellez uses, develops suspense in the story. Tellez uses many different elements to show suspense like using mood and tone to make us feel something. In "Lather And Nothing Else” Tellez used style, the point of view, and pace to build suspense into the story.
It is difficult to make life decisions when knowing that it is all up to you to make the right choice not knowing what the outcome is. In “Gregory” by Panos Ionannides, the soldier has to decide whether to follow the headquarters or his own instincts. Furthermore, in “Just Lather, That’s All” the barber also has to make a choice in a small amount of time, to either kill Torres or not. Moreover, he has no orders to kill Torres it was his own decision to kill someone. The protagonists in “Gregory” and “Just Lather, That’s All” both face moral dilemmas throughout the stories. In the short story “Gregory” by Panos Ionannides, the soldier decides to follow his ethics. In the story “Just Lather That’s All” by Hernando Tellez, the barber has chosen to go towards his morals. Both the soldier and the barber portray that they both need to make decisions that are wise.
THEME: The line between good and evil is sometimes unclear, and as a result, people often think that they are doing the right thing when it is actually the wrong action, and vice versa.
So when he came into town, people who lived near by told Captain Torres that there was a revolutionary working the barbershop and that he would kill Torres if he wet inside to get a shave. Of course he had the ambition to walk in, so once Torres appeared inside the shop, the barber automatically knew who he was and thoughts like "Murderer or hero? My fate hangs on the edge of this razor blade. I can turn my wrist slightly, put a bit more pressure on the blade, let it sink in" (Tellez) started to pop into his head. But the barber remained calm, and said he was only a barber and that's all he will ever be. In light of that, the quote "character is what you are in the dark," follows through with his two sides because in reality, he's just a plain barber, but deep inside, he's rebel and just not letting it show through.
If this man wants to eat a cookie before dinner, he will eat the cookie simply because he chooses to. The cookie is irrelevant. He begins to form new values with his choice as the guiding force. No more blindly obeying codes previously laid down in the past, this man has see...
Humans can only take so much until they reach a certain breaking point. People will crumble, be filled with rage and commit many immoral acts. Once they execute these evil motives, they must be punished. “You will give me your honest confession in my hand, or I cannot keep you from the rope.” (Miller,1272).
Shirley Jackson’s allegory is simultaneously operating on different levels, texturing this narrative with diverse allusions and inferences. Within this tapestry I find a confluent theme as she demonstrates how our natural aversion to violence can be overcome by nurturing the concept of authority, and creating individual interdependence, despite our natural individual independence. Jackson implies the argument that this can be made to happen to most any individual or group. Jackson’s point is we should recognize the influences of our world, so we may not become evil.
One cannot just choose to ignore, one cannot just choose to observe and still do nothing, and one cannot just simply walk away. The reader is taught the momentous moral of not being a bystander, the importance of moral responsibility, and the great significance of learning to overcome the ethical issues in society.
In life, situations arrive that force us to make tough choices. Sometimes those choices are not what we feel are compassionate or morally right. We make these decisions to save ourselves. These are decisions of self-preservation, and they override compassion. Tadeusz Borowski depicts these choices in his book This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen. He shows that when people are put in the choice of doing what’s right or preserving their life, one is preferred over the other. Would they rather save their selves or just watch others be sent to their death. In the novel, the narrator wrestles with his decisions and like Borowski suffers from them.
Yet, despite the fact that I personally believe that a some of these tragedies could be avoided if the individuals in question had taken even a moment to think critically about their actions I also do not doubt that it is difficult to turn away from the rewards of uncritical thinking. After all, rejecting uncritical thinking, especially when it is related to such concepts and shibboleths, puts an individual in an awkward position where they again have to constantly question their own motives and actions as well as the motives and actions of others. The world around them, which had previously seemed so neatly ordered and structured, suddenly becomes chaotic and jumbled. However, from this chaos emerges an
Complete free exercise of will inhibits individual and societal freedom. According to Mill, one may act as one chooses unless one is inflicting harm onto others. He argues that one is free to behave “according to his own inclination and judgment in things which concern himself” as long as “he refrains from molesting” (64). The problem arises in the freedom allowed to the individual performing the potentially dangerous act. People are often blinded by the situation in which they are in and by their personal motives which drive them to act. Humans, by nature, have faults and vices that are potentially harmful. It is the responsibility of society to anticipate harm, whether to oneself or to others. Once dangerous patterns and habits are recognized it is imperative to anticipate and prevent injury from reoccurring. To allow any individual to be inflicted harm forces citizens to lose tr...