Author: JPeer

Please finish The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes for our class on Wednesday, September the 14th. Also read the introduction at the beginning, by Juan Goytisolo.

Here is a link to the CEA review material we went over at the end of class. Please take another look at it, including the example paragraph. We will be returning to it soon. You can find it here.

Karen Monique Oliveira
Eng 2850
Professor Peer
09.10.2016

The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes
Chapters 3 and 4

Recurring Theme of Hope

As a reader, I personally feel a hope for Lazaro with every new chapter and every new quest for a master. It seems as though Lazaro also carries with him a sense of hope even though he has gone through hell and back with his past two masters. This is something about his character that I find admirable. On page 57 after an old man said he could be his servant, Lazaro states “ I had decided that my new master was obviously a man who bought things in quantities, and that his meal was probably all ready and was exactly what I needed and was pinning for.” After reading that I was amazed at his positivity after everything he had gone through, even as just a reader I was not as hopeful for him. But this makes me think of the importance of hope as a theme in every story and in life in general. What is the point of anything if without hope? Everything that we do lies within the theme of hope whether we see it that way or not and especially for someone who is born under difficult or less than desired circumstances, hope is what maintains the story going. If the chapters began with Lazaro having a defeated attitude then we would not experience with him that sense of something better coming and perhaps the journey would not be as interesting and timeless.

Making a little, last a long time.

Another point I wanted to touch on was the idea of making a little last a long time, which is something that that comes up in previous chapters as well. On page 63 Lazaro talks about eating a little and making it last him a long time. Which is true, he would have to make bread crumbs last him for days. What this reminded of was the podcasts we listened to “The Uncertain Hour”, in the second episode we listened to a lady talk about how she got off of welfare and had too collect aluminum cans and then exchange them for money. After a while, she would collect enough to make about $600 which she said she could make last a while but it also came with making sacrifices such as knowing what was the most important to buy. She said she’s always been poor and all they do is try to get by. I feel as though Lazarillo lives his life in a similar manner and that in poverty, everyone is simply living day by day and when they come into any sort of food or money or necessity, they plan on making it last for as long as they can since they are uncertain as to when they will ever come into that again.

Humanistic Parts of Lazarillo

I think of all the chapters, in the third one we get to see how Lazarillo still possesses child like qualities. He has hope and he also has kindness which I believe stems from his own humanism, as well as when strangers show him kindness. After begging for food and collecting quite a bit he returns home and on page 70 as he is eating, he thinks about how he should offer the old man some, even though he should probably think about saving it, he still thinks of the old man. This shows that generosity is a state of being and not necessarily based on your wealth. Another thing that shows Lazarillo’s humanity is how he identifies with the old man. On page 73 he goes on to say that he is quite fond of the old man as he can see he doesn’t have much and was doing what he could. He said he chose to pity him rather then resent him and that he would bring back what he could to the lodge to help him get on. This shows that he has developed a sense of empathy towards people because of his own past experiences and this is a part of being human that not all accept, but he did. And that’s how a lot of people get on in the world, through empathy of others.
Authority Complex

Lastly, I wanted to discuss this idea that Lazarillo is always on the search for a master. The old man explains to him that “a gentleman is obliged to nobody” . He speaks that the idea of belonging to someone at their mercy, as somewhat of an illusion. So much so that he left his wealth in his old town because he did not want to answer to anyone unless it was God or the King. He is a prideful man and I believe that this concept does effect Lazarillo because in the next chapter , he only gives his master about a week before he dashes. Its also something that still exists today, this idea that we have to work for somebody else which of course for the most part is necessary in order to survive but it makes me think how often are we reminded that we can also become our own boss? For the most part the idea is to get an education, so that we can work for someone else who will pay us a good salary. I think having a mentor is important but a master is where things get tricky.

I wanted to share a link to the text I showed you in class yesterday, the “Liber Vagatorum” or Beggars’ Book. This text – a translation of which you can find online for free here – was published in Germany in 1528, with an introduction by Martin Luther. However, similar books were published across Europe, in various languages. The Thieves’ Cant, interestingly, was spoken internationally.

For our next class, please READ CHAPTERS 3 and 4 of LAZARILLO DE TORMES. Please review chapters 1 and 2 also, as we will be discussing them again in class.

Come prepared with at least one discussion point (written down) that you would like to make in class.

I have attached a supplementary reading here, which you may want to peruse, but you are not required to read. It is rather dense, but informative. We will touch upon some of it in our discussion. The sections most pertinent to our reading are “Controlling Poverty,” “Disciplining Crime,” and “Crime and Punishment. You will find it here.

 

Raymond Cazis
Professor Peer
ENG 2850
7 September 2016

Blog Post: The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes Ch. 1 and 2

Lazaro: A Transitional Character

From the very first pages of The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes, we see how the protagonist Lazaro is a transitional character who is affected by the ups and downs of his life’s journey. This work is the first of the Picaresque genre, and it is considered the foundation of the modern novel. This is important to take notice because the characters of the modern novel transition from static characters, seemingly unaffected by their circumstances, into metamorphic characters who transform according their journeys. Lazaro is certainly one of these transitional characters. In the first two chapters, he learns and adapts to the situations he encounters under his first two masters—the blind man and the priest.
Lazaro’s first master the blind man, who is a trickster himself (and one of the best!), teaches Lazaro his devious ways. Lazaro’s time with the blind man taught him “wits and ingenuity” (p. 14), providing him with the requisite skills that make him become our Picaresque protagonist, just as the trickster characters of the Anansi stories. “But with all his experience and shrewdness I found ways to get around him, so that always, or at least most of the time, I collared the lion’s share” (p. 15). Lazaro learned how to fend for himself and how to use others for his own advantage.
These skills took Lazaro from a childish state of naivety into a state of being informed of the realities of society. This enlightened Lazaro as to how those on the fringes of society, such as the blind beggar, could take advantage of and manipulate mainstream characters for their own benefit. The blind beggar, although himself very aware of the difficulties of existence, was a “close-fisted and stingy” man. He would provide only necessities for Lazaro, and he even sometimes lacked at that! To ease his hunger, Lazaro would steal food from his blind master’s sack and wine from his wine jug. He would also steal a portion of the blind man’s alms by keeping a portion of each for himself. Lazaro, out of necessity, learned to adapt to his situation so that he could provide for himself.

Biblical References

I also want to mention a few of the biblical references I noticed in the first two chapters. These references are important, considering this work was written during the Counter-Reformation when the Inquisition was imposed. I see a certain parallel between Lazaro and Lazarus of the Bible. Lazarus is a character in the Bible who existed by eating crumbs that fell from a rich man’s table. Lazarus died a poor beggar, but because of his faith, passed into heaven after death. The rich man did not go to heaven due to his lack of faith. I believe Lazaro is a reference to Lazarus, in that Lazaro is also poor, maintaining an existence at the mercy of his masters. Perhaps in the end, Lazaro too will see is misfortune turn into something positive.
On page 13, the blind man says to Lazaro, “Silver and gold have I none, but I can give you plenty of good tips on how to get along.” This is another biblical reference to a portion of Scripture in which a lame man begged money from the apostles Peter and John. Peter answered the beggar, “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee” (Acts 3:6). Peter then healed the lame man so that he could walk. This shows that the blind man was an enlightening figure to Lazaro, in a way “healing” him so that he could walk through the rest of his journey.
The third biblical reference I want to mention is found on page 21. It reads, “At the end of three days if we’d had neither we did a St. John and shook the dust of the place from our feet.” This is another reference to the apostles in which Jesus told the apostles to “shake off the dust of your feet” (Matthew 10:14) when they were not well-received in a city.

Death as a Release

Lastly, I want to point attention to the line, “So really there was no ease for me except death” (p. 34). In the first two chapters, Lazaro’s troubles would not cease. Just as soon as his situation would improve, he would find himself struggling again. This line also supports the parallel to Lazarus, whose earthly troubles were never resolved. Only after death did Lazarus’s troubles cease. This raises a question in my mind: will Lazaro’s troubles be resolved only after death? Will death serve as the instrument of peace for Lazaro, or will he find along his journey a path towards a better existence?

For our next class, on Wednesday September 7th, please read the “Author’s Prologue” and Chapters One and Two of The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes (pgs 3-54).

Remember, the first listening assignment is also due that day.

Have a great weekend!

Our class will make occasional use of non-print texts. The first of these will be a listening assignment, due Wednesday September 7th.

(Total listening time will be about 90 minutes.)

Please listen to the first three episodes of “The Uncertain Hour,” a podcast by Marketplace. It can be found following the link below:

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/uncertain-hour

The episode titles are as follows:

1. “The Magic Bureaucrat”
2. “White Gloves, Aluminum Cans and Plasma”
3. “What’s love (styles) got to do with it?”

 

The first reading assignment for the course can be found below. Remember, I expect you to read all of the material before class and to bring a paper copy of the reading with you.

For Thursday 08/30, please read:

Three Anansi Stories

The Masks of God

 

Thank you for finding the class website. We will be using this website for a variety of things, and it will be changing as the year progresses. Please check here for all assignments, readings (other than the four books I expect you to purchase), and blog posts.