Just Lather, That's All
...er. In the end, he decides he “will not be a murderer” and as a result finds out that Captain was not at all that different from him. At the beginning when the barber puts on the shaving cream, he is thinking rationally and calmly. He asks Torres about his job and career and “got on with his job of lathering his beard”. With each stroke of the blade there is less shaving cream remaining on the general’s face and with the less shaving cream on his face the less rationally the barber thinks. He thinks about how “One of the tiny pores could be opened up and tissue forth its pearl of blood”. The barber’s mind starts thinking about “How many of us has he ordered to be shot?” Negative thoughts were rambling in his head. When there is shaving cream on Torres’ face he seems to think clearly, feeling safer that he doesn’t have to do the “deed”. He adds a little more lather under his chin and his Adam’s apple where the “big vein” is, and with the razor in his hands he can’t think clearly. How easy it would be for him to kill the captain. With the blade in his hands, the barber feels in control, like he can change the fate of many in his hands. He believed the people would say, “A name to remember, he was the town barber. No one knew he was defending our cause.” Every time the blade is cleaned the barber reminds himself “I am a (good) barber who does things properly” (p.443) He thought he could be a hero if he killed Torres and he never thought in this way before the razor blade was opened. Hernando Tellez frequently and logically uses the symbols, the shaving cream and the razor, throughout the story. The shaving cream represents a security blanket for the barber and the barrier between him and Captain Torres. With a lot of shaving cream, he’s rational and calm but when is lessened, the barber’s thoughts are clouded. The barber received strength from the razor blade. He goes over in his mind that he’s a revolutionary and not a murderer. He trembles like a real murderer, having thoughts of a real murderer, bu...