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Symbolism In Just Lather That's All

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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

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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).

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