Tutor HuntResources Spanish Resources
Lazarillo De Tormes Coursework Example
Commentary
Date : 18/01/2016
Author Information
Uploaded by : Achilles
Uploaded on : 18/01/2016
Subject : Spanish
La Vida de
Lazarillo de Tormes is an,
assumed, autobiographical picaresque novel, meaning it follows the life story
of a rogue, Lazarillo, published in
1554 by an anonymous or unconfirmed author. The anonymity of the novel at this
time seems appropriate and logical, as the subject of the piece addresses, in
an indiscreet and fairly controversial manner, Spanish society at that time.
Bearing this in mind, it would seem to be wise decision from the author to hide
his identity in order to save himself from any authority or clergy. At the same
time, however, at a time where fame and importance was so crucial, the fact
that the author his identity is quite ironic. The novel itself is divided into
individual short stories referred to as tratados,
of which there are seven. Each tells us a story of the struggles and dangerous
encounters of the main character, Lazarillo,
as he is forever under the watch of a master and tries to do whatever he can in
order to survive each experience. The
second tratado is the one I will
mainly be focusing on, a short story that tells us Lazarillo’s exchanges with his master who is a priest. The characterisation of Lazaro is such that despite his being a
villain almost, due to the way the novel is written, the reader sympathises
with him due to being with him every step of the way as he battles conflicts
and tries to survive against tall odds from a very early age, which almost
excuses him from any sins that he may commit. He fits the descri ption of the
typical main character of this type of novel, as he is indeed a cunning,
dishonest rogue who is also a very appealing hero. Throughout each tratado, Lazarillo deceives each and
every one of his masters by using tricks of the trade, and develops a trait he
would otherwise not have acquired, but desperate measures called for desperate
times. For example, in the first tratado,
he fools his master, a blind man, into jumping head first into a stone
pillar, and ends the tratado by
saying ¿Cómo, y olistes la longaniza y
no el poste? ¡Olé, olé!, meaning How
come you smelt the sausage but not the post? Olé! Olé! This is only after a fair amount of suffering and sinning, but in the
end Lazarillo learns lessons from his
master, wins and escapes and is an example that despite his fairly horrid
trick, we feel relieved and proud of him. Now in this second tratado, he disguises his actions of stealing Eucharist bread from the
priest’s chest, after having bribed a key forger to make a key for him in
return for a loaf of bread, through the lie that there are mice invading his
container and nibbling away at his food. In all cases, stealing is unacceptable
and frowned upon to say the least, however, due to Lazarillo’s exceptional circumstances of his very young age and
difficult situation, the reader feels compassion towards the mischievous, young
villain, and that he is entirely innocent, even believing that the master is
the one who should be regretful, the one in the wrong. Each tratado always pits Lazarillo, a poor, homeless, lower class character, one who will
inevitably receive love from the reader due to his underdog nature, against an apparently wise, but mainly
wealthy and important master. Regardless of his actions, the reader will always
be in Lazarillo’s corner. Furthermore, the style of narration deepens our
empathy and favouritism of Lazarillo.
We feel as though the little boy is speaking to us directly about his
endeavours and adventures, creating a closer relationship between the seeming
villain, while distancing us from the feelings and problems of his masters in
turn leading us to only care about Lazarillo
and only him. We become aware of his thoughts and self-debates,
understanding his need to commit minor sins in order to relieve his almost
ever-present hunger or purely and simply, save himself. This is dramatic irony
as we are enlightened and know of his pain and struggle, but no one else does,
not even his masters, therefore not caring for him as much as we do. In line 2
of the extract, Lazarillo says considerando entre mi, dije... an
example where he speaks to himself, where we get to hear his thoughts, and
understand what he is being so pensive about. If this had not been written in
the first person, this line would not exist and we would not know this piece of
information, among similar other ones. Two principal themes, in my opinion, that are
present throughout this novel, are corruption, and deception. The purpose of
the novel is clear. It exists to address faults and imperfections of Spanish
society at the time, raising issues such as false religion which falls under
the corruption of the church. The representation of the church is a negative
one, and its appearance is therefore tainted when it may in fact have been
perfectly adequate, however it is strange that the main character, who would
normally be a representative for most main themes in a novel, never attacks the
church or its system or its beliefs as we see him speak and relate to God often.
Lastly, and perhaps most obviously, deception. It is a constant theme
throughout this work as there would be no story if Lazarillo did not have the ability to deceive and trick his masters
in each case of adversity where his life was threatened. Within the space of
one passage Lazarillo takes advantage
of his master not once, but twice, after concealing his theft of the bread
initially with the idea of mice, and then hiding his theft of the cheese with
the same reason.
To conclude, this picaresque novel addresses many polemic social and economic issues at the time, while presenting us an appealing villain to follow through the means of clever characterisation and a first person narrative.
This resource was uploaded by: Achilles