The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes

by

Anonymous

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Lazarillo de Tormes makes teaching easy.

The blind man Character Analysis

The blind man is Lazaro’s first master, about whom Lazaro writes the most. A miserly and streetwise old beggar, the blind man earns a living by travelling from town to town saying prayers and blessings for whoever will pay him. He beats Lazaro and doesn’t feed him well, but he teaches Lazaro valuable lessons about how to protect and provide for himself. Like other blind men in literature, he seems to have a gift for prophecy, predicting the two most notable developments of the book’s conclusion: that Lazaro’s livelihood will depend on wine, and that he will become a cuckold.

The blind man Quotes in The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes

The The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes quotes below are all either spoken by The blind man or refer to The blind man. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Truth, Deception, and Loss of Innocence Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

It seemed to me that at that moment I awoke out of the simplicity in which I had remained like a sleeping child. And I said to myself, “He’s right. I’d better keep my eyes open and my wits about me, for I’m on my own, and I’ll have to figure out how to manage for myself.”

Related Characters: Lazaro de Tormes (speaker), The blind man
Related Symbols: Horns
Page Number: 12
Explanation and Analysis:

He put wine on the places where he’d cut my face with the broken jug, and he smiled and said, “What do you think of that, Lazaro? The same thing that got you hurt heals you afterwards and gets you back into shape.”

Related Characters: Lazaro de Tormes (speaker), The blind man
Related Symbols: Wine
Page Number: 19
Explanation and Analysis:

“Oh wicked object, the fruit of worse behavior! How many there are who would like to see you on their neighbors’ heads, and yet how few want to have you for themselves, or even want to hear you mentioned in connection with them! … It’s a bad dinner and supper I’ve got in my hand here, but I’ll give it to you one of these days… What I’ve said is true. You’ll see, if you live long enough.”

Related Characters: The blind man (speaker), Lazaro de Tormes
Related Symbols: Horns
Page Number: 24
Explanation and Analysis:

“Honestly, I waste more wine washing this boy in one year than I drink myself in two. Lazaro, to put it at its very least you owe more to wine than you do to your own father. He only gave you your being once, whereas wine has brought you to life a thousand times. … I’ll tell you, if there’s anyone in this world to whom wine will be a blessing, it will be you.”

Related Characters: The blind man (speaker), Lazaro de Tormes
Related Symbols: Wine
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“He’s poor,” I said to myself, “and nobody can give what he hasn’t got. Whereas that miserly blind man and that niggardly skin-flint of a priest had both done alright for themselves in the name of God, the one with his hand-kissing and the other with his line of patter, and they starved me half to death. So it’s perfectly fair to be down on them and to take pity on this one.”

Related Characters: Lazaro de Tormes (speaker), The blind man, The priest, The squire
Page Number: 73
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Lazarillo de Tormes LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes PDF

The blind man Quotes in The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes

The The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes quotes below are all either spoken by The blind man or refer to The blind man. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Truth, Deception, and Loss of Innocence Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

It seemed to me that at that moment I awoke out of the simplicity in which I had remained like a sleeping child. And I said to myself, “He’s right. I’d better keep my eyes open and my wits about me, for I’m on my own, and I’ll have to figure out how to manage for myself.”

Related Characters: Lazaro de Tormes (speaker), The blind man
Related Symbols: Horns
Page Number: 12
Explanation and Analysis:

He put wine on the places where he’d cut my face with the broken jug, and he smiled and said, “What do you think of that, Lazaro? The same thing that got you hurt heals you afterwards and gets you back into shape.”

Related Characters: Lazaro de Tormes (speaker), The blind man
Related Symbols: Wine
Page Number: 19
Explanation and Analysis:

“Oh wicked object, the fruit of worse behavior! How many there are who would like to see you on their neighbors’ heads, and yet how few want to have you for themselves, or even want to hear you mentioned in connection with them! … It’s a bad dinner and supper I’ve got in my hand here, but I’ll give it to you one of these days… What I’ve said is true. You’ll see, if you live long enough.”

Related Characters: The blind man (speaker), Lazaro de Tormes
Related Symbols: Horns
Page Number: 24
Explanation and Analysis:

“Honestly, I waste more wine washing this boy in one year than I drink myself in two. Lazaro, to put it at its very least you owe more to wine than you do to your own father. He only gave you your being once, whereas wine has brought you to life a thousand times. … I’ll tell you, if there’s anyone in this world to whom wine will be a blessing, it will be you.”

Related Characters: The blind man (speaker), Lazaro de Tormes
Related Symbols: Wine
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“He’s poor,” I said to myself, “and nobody can give what he hasn’t got. Whereas that miserly blind man and that niggardly skin-flint of a priest had both done alright for themselves in the name of God, the one with his hand-kissing and the other with his line of patter, and they starved me half to death. So it’s perfectly fair to be down on them and to take pity on this one.”

Related Characters: Lazaro de Tormes (speaker), The blind man, The priest, The squire
Page Number: 73
Explanation and Analysis: