Previous
Symbols
Wine plays an important role throughout the book as a symbol of the bittersweet: the entanglement of virtue and vice. As a drink which is sweetly intoxicating and also fermented (and therefore slightly toxic to the body), wine has a dual nature. In keeping with this dual nature, wine gets Lazaro into trouble as often as it saves his life. Although Lazaro is injured badly as a punishment for stealing wine from the blind man, wine is also the disinfectant the blind man uses to wash Lazaro’s wounds afterwards. Most notably, the blind man makes a prophesy that Lazaro will have more to thank wine for than any other man—a prophesy that comes true in the final chapter, when Lazaro has become a town crier who makes his money advertising wines. Here, wine is the source of Lazaro’s livelihood even as his life is a deeply flawed and unlucky one. Wine is present throughout the text as a staple in the lives of poor people, bringing them temporary happiness in a world full of pain—not by providing any lasting solutions to their problems, but rather by numbing them to the pains of their everyday reality.
Wine Quotes in The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes
The The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes quotes below all refer to the symbol of Wine. 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:
).
Chapter 1 Quotes
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:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
After the blind man smashes the wine jug on Lazaro’s face, he cleans the cuts using the wine. He makes this remark in reference to the wine, pointing out its dual nature as something that has the power to do harm even as it is a source of joy and healing. But the statement could just as easily apply to the blind man himself—a cruel and bitter master who harms and deceives Lazaro while simultaneously caring for him and teaching him valuable life lessons. That the blind man uses his power over Lazaro to both harm and heal him bears Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At
“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:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The blind man says these words to Lazaro after he has beaten him for stealing the sausage and then used the wine to clean Lazaro’s injuries. Once again, the blind man distorts the narrative of Lazaro’s misfortune, ignoring the fact that the blind man was the person who injured Lazaro in the first place and choosing to focus instead on the resources he is wasting on healing Lazaro’s injuries. This should evoke the hypocrisy of the Spanish ruling class, whose superficial handwringing about poverty and morality masks their own corruption and complicity in perpetuating class inequality. This is also the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qu
Get the entire Lazarillo de Tormes LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Wine Symbol Timeline in The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes
The timeline below shows where the symbol Wine appears in The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
During this time Lazaro also learns to steal swigs of wine from the blind man’s jug, but the blind man notices the jug getting lighter and...
(full context)
...days, Lazaro is nursed back to health by the friendly innkeeper’s wife, who uses the wine Lazaro stole from the blind man to clean his wounds. The blind man jokingly makes...
(full context)
Chapter 3
...offers Lazaro a drink from his jug and Lazaro refuses, explaining that he doesn’t drink wine, but the squire explains that it’s just water.
(full context)
Chapter 7
...finds work as a town crier in Toledo. His job is to advertise the local wines and announce the news, crimes, and lost property. One day Lazaro is helping to hang...
(full context)
...archpriest of San Salvador takes notice of Lazaro for his skill in selling the archpriest’s wines, and he arranges for Lazaro to marry one of the maids in his service. Lazaro,...
(full context)
