link

HI, I hope these links help you. If you use any of them in your writing remember to footnote and acknowledge your source. Mrs. C

http://www.edu.pe.ca/gray/class_pages/jecutcliffe/english621/goofs/index.html

Just Lather, That's All Response 2

EQ: How do our relationships affect the way we see the world/us.

Identities are not set in stone. In fact, we have a wide array of identities, ranging from our personality in a set minute or an overall glance at our life. All of these different identities can change in the blink of an eye with the development of new experiences and perspectives. In the story "Just Lather, That's All" by Hernando Tellez, the story of a barber who's experience with the enemy changes his perspective and then identity, we are shown that the pressures of people around us temporarily change us. The barber is a spy for a rebellion being hunted by the man he now shaves. In an instant the barber could slit his throat and free his people, but the harsh reality that the man in front of him is just as human as he is, despite his label as an inhumane killer, sets in. The barber's identity changes from that of a rebel spy to a third party viewer in a matter of minutes in light of this discovery. The pressures of his people had made him a rebel, but in the beginning he was just a barber. He realizes that "each person has his place in the scheme of things" and wonders if he is a "revolutionary or a murderer." In the end he is just a barber, unaffected by the people he was affiliated with by desperation. The moral of the story is that although people we meet and things we see can can alter our perspectives and sense of personal morality, only the people we truly trust, value and know can make a lasting impression on our identities. 

I chose this image because I feel it represents the effects of murder, as discussed in "Just Lather, That's All". The story showed how a person's identity can change in an instant, but humanity is hard to alter. We see this in the line "No one deserves to have someone else make the sacrifice of becoming a murderer". The situation of the townspeople is so desperate that for the brief time that the barber has the opportunity to end it, he changes. His desperation alters his identity until his humanity reins back his true self. When identities are altered they are easy to "correct", but humanity rarely changes.  

Even though he pressured by the potential good it can bring as well as the the wishes of the townspeople he lives with, he is hesitant. This is because to commit a murder is to create a permanent change to your identity, like blood on a white sheet; traces always remain no matter how many times it is washed, because murder also affects humanity. The story debates the moral standards between ending a life, even if that life is responsible for the loss of lives of others, and if the pressures of peers is more important than the pressures of morality.