Monday, April 25, 2011

What are two of the barber's character traits in "Just Lather, That's All"?

In "Just Lather, That's All," the barber has a number of prominent character traits. Here are two of them:



  1. The barber is proud of his work and strives for perfection. He calls himself a "conscientious barber," and is skilled enough at his job that he recognizes that the Captain has four days' worth of hair growth. He also handles the razor skillfully so that he never spills any of his client's blood. Furthermore, even in the midst of his murderous dilemma, he thinks about his reputation as the "best" barber in the town.


  2. The barber also has a strong sense of morality and aversion to violence. Even though he is presented with the perfect opportunity to kill his enemy, the Captain, he cannot bring himself to do it. For the barber, murder is not part of being a "revolutionary" because he realizes that violence will not solve political problems but will, in fact, exacerbate them:


"Others come along and still others, and the first ones kill the second ones and they the next ones and it goes on like this until everything is a sea of blood."


No comments:

Post a Comment