Summary Of Lather And Nothing Else By Hernando Tellez

Courage: to be unafraid of circumstance. Cowardice: fear that makes you unable to do what is right or expected, or a lack of bravery. These antonyms carry weight, define the character of a person, and challenge many to struggle against what they fear. Yet it isn’t as black and white as definitions, or boxes to neatly file away another human's actions. In the narrative, “Lather and Nothing Else.” by Hernando Tellez, unfolds a tense situation between two men on opposing sides of a war. Captain Torres, a well known soldier fighting the resistance, goes to the barber. There he undergoes a shave by the narrator, a rebellious barber. The two men are on edge, one entangled in his fear, one facing it head on. The man choosing to push past his fear

is Captain Torres, and I believe he is the braver of the two.
Courage is something found in abundance throughout the story, the polarizing situation could not have occurred without it . Both men had force of will, either overt, as displayed by the Captain, or covert, shown mostly by the barber. The barber internalizes his fear, and has the courage to speak and work for the man despite his hesitations. He even goes as far as to inquire about the opposition, although it could have given up the cover he assumed he still had. The simple, short worded questions of “How many did you take?” (343). and “A firing party?” (343) as well as others, show his desire to push past his fear and do something for the cause he believed in, even in the face of danger. Captain Torres however, displayed courage in a multitude of ways, exuding confidence and relaxation despite facing vulnerability in the hands of an enemy. He rests in the chair of the barbershop, boasting about his part in the decimation of the rebels. He claims to have taken fourteen rebels in total during an ongoing fight, and informs the barber that none of the rebel party will escape (343). This exuberance of pride risks the anger of the barber, who is in position to easily put an end to his life. This confidence closes the gap between courage and stupidity, but he survives-quite literally-a close shave at the hands of his enemy. Finally, he reveals to the barber he had known all along he was a rebel, and that many had claimed he would die at the hands of the man if he gave him the chance (346). This shows his internalized courage, proving him the braver of the two, as he faced his possible death without acknowledging his fear.
Cowardice is a trait in the hearts of many, even those who act without care and speak without thought.

Despite their strong wills and actions, no man is without fear, and both displayed moments of cowardice. As the narrator shaves the face of the man who has caused him much strife and pain, he imagines ending his life, the simplicity tempting him to become like those he has despised, the murders and executions of the war. He knows to kill and maybe die for his cause would be noble; thinking many would consider him “the avenger of [their] people” (345), but he allows his fear to control him, and spares the man. Although holding moral belief is not a condemnable act, in this circumstance the man was talked down foremost by fear, then by moral, and so by definition this was an act of cowardice. Captain Torres was not able to dissuade his fears either, the entire circumstance was a result of his fears pushing him to behave foolishly. At the end of the story, he admits to knowledge of the barbers revolutionary position, and that his associates believed he would be killed in the barber shop. This goes to show that the Captain came into the shop to prove his superiority over the rebellious, fearing that those around him around would otherwise think of him as fearful. This is not a fear of mortality, but instead a fear of how other perceive him. He put himself in harm's way to momentarily settle his lack of self esteem, and that is a foolish act that could only be driven by fear and

cowardice.
In summary, no human being is fully courageous or cowardly by nature, but held only to these traits, Captain Torres remains the braver of the two. This narrative shows a tense moment between two people fighting for what they believe, and in that, their characters are tested, causing the reader to wonder if courage should be what we strive for and weigh others against, or does that only scratch the surface of what really makes a human great?