"The Barber" Summary

"The Barber" is set in a southern locale, probably in the late 1940s or early 1950s, when racial conflicts are at their height. This is particularly true for citizens in small towns used to segregation, and in places such as the barbershops of towns where heated discussions and debates are always present.

At the beginning of "The Barber" in the small town of Dilton, a liberal man named Rayber reminisces about an incident that occurred three weeks earlier, which convinced him to change which barber he went to. Rayber remembers getting a shave while the barber asks him which way he is going to vote, and if he is, in fact, a "nigger-lover." Rayber is taken aback by the abrupt and confrontational question and tries to seem middle-of-the-road in his opinions. The barber will have none of it and...