Jeff Scudder
October 9th, 2003
Period E

Elements of Plot

	“Lather and Nothing Else” was a great story. The characters and the plot tied together and all the elements of the story were put together smoothly. It was this alone that made this story an exciting and suspenseful piece of literature.
	The first element of “Lather and Nothing Else”, the exposition, creatively set the mood and setting of the story. In this case, the mood is a dark and nevice one, yet the setting is inside a barber shop during a countrie's civil war. The exposition written in this story succesfully did all it accomplished to do. It introduced the reader to the barber and some of his characteristics.. The exposition sets the reader up for what is coming next, by giving him important information he needs to understand the story.
	The inciting incident is what triggers the conflict in the story. In this story, it is when Torres first walks into the barber's shop, and when the barber realizes that Torres is his enemy. This is where the barber gets nervice, and starts to think of a possible plan of killing Torres in his shop. I think that through the inciting incident of this story, the reader is beginning to feel almost as if they were actually inside the barber's head. 
	The rising action is the event leading up to the climax, that includes part of the main conflict. This event takes place as the barber begins to shave Torres, and he is thinking deeply about killing him. He also talks about how he respects his customers and how Torres wants to be shaven and not murdered. The barber continues to shave the Captain with pride of his job as a barber, but he is still thinking about the kill. At this point there are many things going on in the barber's head, and he has a big decision to face. This rising action leads right up to the climax.
	A climax is the most exciting, highest point of the story that all the events lead up to before it. When the barber is shaving Torres’ neck and comes to the neck’s most vulnerable part, it is the climax. It is what the reader had been waiting for the whole entire story. Whether the barber will kill Torres or let him live all depends on this moment. In this case, the climax is also the most suspenseful and exciting part of the story.  The barber finally realizes that being a revolutionary does not always mean you have to be a murderer.
	The falling action is the next event that takes place in the story. It contains most of the events that occur after the climax has happened. In “Lather and Nothing Else”, this is where the barber answer’s the question the reader has as to why he did not kill Torres.  His answer was because he did not want to kill for his beliefs and become a murderer. He respects his job as a barber, and he wishes to do the duties of a barber, and not those of a soldier, or an assassin. He wishes to treat his customers with dignity and respect like they should be treated by their barber.
	The final element of the story is the Resolution. The resolution occurs when the main conflict of the story is resolved. As Torres leaves the barber’s shop, he tells him that people told him the barber would kill him, and that he came to get a shave to find out if these things were true. He went on and said, that it is not easy to kill and it takes a lot of courage. The conclusion of this story, shows that even though  two characters are enemies, they can still respect each other.
	The author of “Lather and Nothing Else” successfully tied all the elements of plot together to create a compelling and suspenseful story. He showed that two enemies can see each other face to face, and respect each others feelings and beliefs, even if they don’t agree with them. In conclusion, this was a great, well written story with a good moral.