Compare and Contrast Essay: Gentlemen, Your Verdict and Just Lather, That’s All

Who has it worse? In two similar short stories, the main characters are forced to make a difficult decision that faces life or death outcomes. In the first story, “Gentlemen, Your Verdict” written by Micheal Bruce, Commander Oram and his crew are trapped in a sinking submarine. There is only enough air to last all twenty men aboard two days, but help won't arrive for seven days. Oram is faced with a decision most would hate to be in. A decision of who lives and who dies. In the second story “Just Lather, That’s All”, by Hernando Tellez, tells the struggle of a barber whose arch-nemesis Captain Torres, a killer of the rebels, comes into his shop for a shave. The barber is one of the rebels himself and has the chance to kill Captain Torres, but would the outcome be worth it? By comparing the relationship each man has with their victims and the potential outcomes of their decisions, it is clear that one has a greater moral dilemma.

The relationships each man has with their victims can determine who has a greater decision. In “Gentleman, Your Verdict”,The submarine is diving farther and farther down, Oram as Commander of the vessel is troubled with the decision of who are the five men that get to live. He chooses the five married men. This decision would have been difficult because of the time Oram has spent with his crew and how close they would all be. In the second story “Just Lather, That’s All” the barber realizes that he has the chance to kill Torres, without any retaliation. He hates Torres and the idea behind his cause, plus it would be easy to kill him as he is not close to him, but would his relationship with others suffer “I don’t want blood on my hands” (Tellez 3)? Killing Torres would escalate the brutality and more of his fellow rebels would pay the price. In short Commander Oram had the tougher decision because he was closer to his crew than the barber was. Resulting in a greater dilemma of who lives and who dies“...you’re the finest crew I’ve ever seen, let alone commanded”(Bruce 3) hence creating a greater moral dilemma. 

Furthermore, the potential outcomes of the two characters' decisions depict who has the tougher one to make. In “Gentlemen, Your Verdict”, Commander Oram knows he has to kill himself and fifteen other crew members. Orams decision to kill the non-married men would affect the victims loved ones, but because they did not have anyone to care for, it would not leave anyone high and dry. In addition “You can still serve your country”(Bruce 3). The men can carry out their duty of being father’s and husbands but also as a part of the military. In “Just Lather, That’s All” the barber is thinking about all the potential outcomes of his decision and is fighting the thoughts in his head. He does his job honorably and with pride, but when Captain Torres walks in, he knows he could get revenge for what Torres has done “..how easy it would be to kill [Torres]. And he deserves it.”(Tellez 3) To one side he would be known as a hero, and to the other a coward. If he does choose to kill Torres he would have to run away. Leaving his job that he takes very seriously and even then they would find him and kill him for what he has done “Not one of [the rebels]comes out of this alive”(Tellez 3). He contemplates if he wants to be known as a hero or murderer, but he knows it will not make much of a difference. If he does kill Torres the army will replace him and the killings will continue, maybe even more brutal than before. Henceforth making Orams decision harder because he knew that the families of those who died would be gravely affected by the loss of their loved one.

In sum, by comparing the relationships the men have with their victims and the outcomes of their decisions, it is clear that Commander Oram has the greater moral dilemma. Because he is faced with life or death situations about others' lives. He got to choose who he wanted to live and who did not get that luxury. Even with the relationships that were built during their duties, Oram had to decided.