Lazarillo de Tormes: Analysis of Structure, Themes, and Characters
Lazarillo de Tormes: Structure, Themes, and Characters
Structure (First Part of the Argument)
In the first three chapters, the personality of Lazarus is forged. From the fourth, his upward mobility begins. In the seventh, Lazarus achieves material welfare but remains in moral misery. At the start of the novel, his mother lived with a man to whom she was not married, and he, ultimately, is the husband of a woman who cheats on him.
Lazarus remembers the past, written in the letter. Past and present come together in the last treaty. The temporal rhythm is uneven; at first, it is fast, and when suffering enters his life, a slower pace is seen, which accelerates when he is away from social and moral problems.
Themes
Honor and Dishonor
The rogue is a character opposed to the moral and social concept of honor. Since honor was the socio-moral principle around which 16th-century Spanish society was structured, the rogue’s disgraceful attitude implies a criticism of the superficial design of honor, based on appearance, money, and blood purity.
Hunger
It appears in the first three treaties: In the first, Lazarus must deceive the blind man to eat; in the second, he has to steal bread from the greedy cleric; and in the third, he is the one to beg for himself and his master, a squire who appears to be rich.
Religion
The anticlericalism of the novel is obvious. Of the nine masters of Lazarillo, five belong to the Church, and all exploit him when they should be setting a good example.
Lazarillo gives us the vision of a Spain that is apparently very religious but in which charity is not practiced, and its inhabitants are without dignity, despite their desire for honor.
Characters
Lazarillo de Tormes marks the beginning of the realistic novel. The author places his characters in real places. The hero makes the story consistent and believable. In Lazarillo, one can observe all the developments where, because of all the miseries that he experiences, he becomes a being capable of lying, stealing, and outwitting others to survive. Different characters appear, summarizing the Spanish scene at the time: beggars, swindlers, and clergy without devotion. This characterization contributes to the realism of the work:
- The Blind Man: Selfish and cruel, he is characterized by his cunning and meanness.
- The Cleric: He is greedy and false.
- The Poor Squire: He tries to pretend that he is rich.
- The Friar: Characterized by his attachment to worldly things.
- The Pardoner: A con man, cunning and flattering, who acts in his own interest.
- The Chaplain: He does not mistreat Lazarus and profits from him. He alone offers him a job.
- The Dean: His features are hypocrisy and lust.
Lazarus has to live with all these characters, so that in the end, he accepts a marriage of convenience in exchange for economic security.
Style
Both educated and colloquial speech appear. Due to the condition of Lazarillo, simple language is used. It is characterized by its simplicity and flexibility of expression, the use of colloquialisms and sayings, euphemisms, and rhetorical devices such as antithesis and paradox.
As a letter, the phatic function and the obsession to explain everything he does stand out, using formulas like “it is better.”