Just Lather That's All Moral

Aashrith Raj Tatipamula ENG3U Ms. Galati July 5th, 2024 Transformative Acts in Literature Imagine a small boy who is hungry and tries to snatch away a purse, but only to get something quite unexpected from it—kindness. In these moments of humanity, that goes against our understanding of social justice. Literature compellingly does this, transforming the audience's perspective by pushing them into the lives of others. By experiencing the world through diverse perspectives, the audience can see how they are encouraged to learn to be compassionate, uphold moral integrity, and respect cultural and environmental values. This is evident in the short stories Thank You, Ma'am, by Langston Hughes, Just Lather, That's All by Hernando Téllez, and Freeing
This shows the difficulty of moral decisions and ethics regarding one's duty and profession. Despite the barber’s hatred of Torres, he still respected his morals and decided not to become a murderer. This is clearly shown when he says, “But I don't want to be a murderer, no sir. You came to me for a shave. And I do my job with honor” (Téllez 3). In this quote, we can see how the barber is trying to avoid the weight of taking a life and making the right decision to spare it. It makes readers think about violence, its repercussions, and the importance of maintaining ethical principles, even in the darkest moments. This, in turn, tries to spread the message that true justice cannot be achieved through violent means. Lastly, the short story Freeing the Pike narrates an event when the author caught a huge pike one day when he went fishing alone but decided to let it go because that was when Wagamese understood the meaning of life and freedom. He says, “That river pike was freedom in my hands. When I decided to let it go, I chose life" (Wagamese