UNINTERlingua 2023

56 the pícaro’s fortune must vary, the pícaro can experience hunger, etc. However, not all of these things must be present. Given these characteristics, and Guillén’s study, we can be sure that the term of picares- que can be applied to novels that do not necessarily follow step-by-step the model initiated by the original Lazarillo de Tor- mes. The critic indicates that a genre is a model (Guillén, p. 72). The model can indicate the path to follow, or it can be an inspiration to write something new within the parameters that the model indicates, but it is not something to be simply copied or imitated. Based on the criteria in “Toward a Defini- tion of the Picaresque,” there is no doubt that the Segunda parte deserves to be included within the genre of the picares- que novel. Among its picaresque cha- racteristics, we can include the following: the main character survives by his wit; it is narrated in first person; there is social criticism; different levels of humor are pre- sent; the main character serves different masters; his fortune varies, and, at the end of the novel, the character has not really achieved a true advancement in life; in other words, there is pessimism. Among men he goes back to being without mo- ney, to having an unfaithful wife, and being under the service of his wife’s lover. At the end of the Segunda parte, there is the disappointment and disillusion typical of the picaresque novel. The two metamorphoses that Lázaro su- ffers are the elements that seem to have bothered the critics most. Yet, within the accepted picaresque tradition are some other novels that have this combination of picaresque and fantastic elements; such is the case of El coloquio de los perros by Miguel de Cervantes. Therefore, if we ac- cept that the fantastic elements present in Cervantes’s work do not prevent his novel from being considered within the picares- que genre, which is the view of most cri- tics, one can also accept that the Segunda parte can very well fit within this category. Some critics, however, have suggested that the continuation of 1555 should be excluded from the picaresque genre for several reasons. None of these reasons appear to have a solid basis when looked at more closely. For example, some have argued that the Lázaro of the Segunda parte does not suffer from hunger. It is true that in the world of the tuna fish he does not suffer hunger; on the contrary, in that world, Lázaro prospers and is respec- ted. However, the critic Jesús Cañedo has said in his article “Curriculum vitae de Lazarillo de Tormes” that hunger can be present or not. Its presence or absence is not sufficient grounds to determine whe- ther a novel is picaresque or not (Cañedo, p. 173). Even the original Lázaro of 1554 does not suffer from hunger throughout the entire work. After he is abandoned by his third master, the squire, hunger stops playing an important role and is no longer a central theme within the work. As Láza-