Lazarillo of Tormes | Page 5

up to now") where the
"matter" itself, alluded to previously in the Prologue, is finally given in
some detail.
Another critic, Americo Castro, points out that Lazarillo of Tormes is
different from other types of sixteenth century prose fiction in at least
one extremely important way that points toward the modern novel. The
knights of chivalresque novels and the shepherds who sighed and
lamented their way through pastoral novels were flat characters with no
room to grow. Not so Lazarillo. Every action, every twist of fortune
makes an impression on him, forms his way of looking at the world and
shapes his nature. From an innocent little boy he becomes a
mischievous, then vengeful, blind man's boy. He observes the
hypocrisy, avarice, false pride, materialism of his masters, and when he
marries the archpriest's mistress for what he can gain, he applies all the
lessons he has learned on the ladder to success-- to the "height of all
good fortune." Americo Castro also notes that Lazarillo of Tormes is a

step toward the masterpiece of Cervantes, Don Quixote of La Mancha.
As this critic said: "In addition to its intrinsic merits, the Lazarillo de
Tormes is supremely important viewed in its historic perspective. In
many ways it made possible the Quijote. Among other things, it offered
in the intimate opposition of the squire and his servant the first outline
of the duality-unity of Don Quijote and Sancho."
Style is another point of great importance to this novel, particularly in
the use of conceits. Lazarillo's father, for example, "suffered
persecution for righteousness' sake," a clear reference to the beatitudes.
But in this case "righteousness" is the law who is punishing him for
being the thief that he is. Throughout the novel we see similar plays on
words: the master, who "although he was _blind, enlightened_ me;" or
the squire who tried to coax certain young ladies one morning, and
whose stomach was warm, but when he discovered that his pocketbook
was cold, he suffered _hot-chills_.
It is not surprising that sequels promptly appeared, but the writers of
these unfortunately lacked the genius of the author of the original
Lazarillo. An anonymous sequel appeared in 1555 with the title, _The
Second Part of Lazarillo of Tormes, His Fortunes and Misfortunes_. Its
beginning words are the same as the final ones of the first Lazarillo, but
there any similarity ends. In this novel Lazaro makes friends with some
Germans and his wife gives birth to a daughter. Lazaro then enlists to
go on an expedition to fight the Turks, his ship sinks, and he is
miraculously changed into a fish. He has many adventures in the sea,
and is finally caught up in the nets of some fishermen and changes back
into a man. The novel is a fantasy, and may be allegorical. The
beginning is its most realistic point, and the first chapter of this novel
became tacked onto the end of the first Lazarillo.
No further sequels were printed until 1620 when Juan Cortes de
Tolosa's book, Lazarillo de Manzanares, was published. This novel
imitates the first Lazarillo in its initial episodes, but is again far less
successful than the original.
In the same year, 1620, Juan de Luna's Second Part of the Life of
Lazarillo of Tormes was published in Paris. (Another edition was
published simultaneously in Paris, but was marked as though printed in
Zaragoza to facilitate the book's sale in Spain.) Little is definitely
known about Luna. We do know that he was born in Spain--perhaps in

Aragon. He apparently fled to France in 1612 as a political and
religious refugee: in one of his books he refers to himself as "a
foreigner who has left behind his homeland, his relatives, and his estate
for a just and legitimate cause." It has been speculated that Luna may
have been educated for the priesthood but then grown dissatisfied and
even vehemently bitter toward the clergy. The reason for his flight to
France has been interpreted as a flight from the Spanish Inquisition. In
France, in Montauban, he began to study theology to prepare himself
for the Protestant ministry. But soon afterward he became a Spanish
teacher in Paris, and in 1619 published a book of proverbs and phrases
for Spanish students. The following year his continuation of Lazarillo
was published, along with a revised version of the original Lazarillo
(revised because its style did not suit his tastes). Next he appeared in
London, in 1622, attempting to have his sequel translated into English.
His Spanish grammar was published there the following year. The last
information we have of him is that he became a Protestant minister in
England, and for three years delivered sermons to his fellow Spaniards
each Sunday, in Mercer's Chapel, Cheapside, London.
Although the details of Juan de