“Lazarillo de Tormes" and "El Periquillo Sarniento”

Introduction

The novel Lazarillo de Tormes was published in Spain anonymously in the year 1554. This novel was mainly known for its rascal characters; as it opened up a subject of injustice while the readers were also amused. The influence of this novel was expanded even beyond the twentieth century, and various dramas and novels can be seen to have the impacts of 16th century novel. However, due to the anti clerical flavor of the book, it remained banned for centuries in Spain. In 1573, a version of this novel was published, but chapters 4 and 5 were omitted. In addition, many other parts were also assorted in the book.

El Periquillo Sarniento is the first Latin American novel written by a Mexican journalist José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi. It was written in 1816 (Spell, 1956), but could only be published in 1831 due to government censor policies. El Periquillo Sarniento is considered as one of the most important novels of Lizardi, despite of the fact that he had many masterpieces in literature. Once printed, more than 20 editions of this have been printed since then, which depicts its wide popularity. The novel belongs to the category of nation-building novels; the subject became more interesting since it was written during the period when the Mexico and Latin America were going through the transition, in order to be converted from colony to independent states. The major aim of the novel is to express opposition against the Spanish inquisition reestablishment; at the time when this novel was written, Spain was still considered as official colony of Mexico. Sordid realism can be considered as the major subject of this novel; descriptive vignettes of places and times are commonly found in this reading. Thus, El Periquillo Sarniento becomes precursor of the realism development, which got fame in Spain just after few years of its publication.

The first similarity between these novels is the similar literature genre from which they belong; both writers have used the narrative fiction genre. Secondly, both novels have the major characters that were in the habit of switching jobs and changing masters frequently; due to the similarity of nature and actions of the characters, many events of the novel become similar. Thirdly, objection on the subjects of both novels is the other similarity between them; however there are significant differences between these novels. This paper compares these two novels from the perspective of their authors, background context and characters. Among the most notable characteristics of the novel are corruption, superstition and ignorance (Franco, 1969).

Background of Authors

The author of the first novel Lazarillo de Tormes remained anonymous, but it is not hard to guess the personality traits of the writer and the context in which the novel was written. In the 16th century, it was very common for the parents to hand over their children to some beggars. When such children grew up, they were reported to have the same personality issues as with the major ...