This paper offers a literary analysis of Eduardo Galeano's short story "The Story of the Lizard Who Had the Habit of Dining on His Wives," situating the work within the context of Galeano's biography, political beliefs, and career as a Latin American leftist writer. The paper examines the story's classification as both fable and allegory, surveys existing reader and critical commentary, and identifies four major themes: "be careful what you wish for," "what goes around comes around," gender dynamics, and political symbolism. The paper also proposes an additional interpretive lens — the conflict between rich and poor — grounded in Galeano's Marxist convictions and lifelong advocacy for economic justice in Latin America.
"The Story of the Lizard Who Had the Habit of Dining on His Wives" seems, at first, to be a short, simple, and strange story. However, when a reader looks into Eduardo Galeano's biography, the story makes much more sense and appears to say far more than just "lizard eats women / woman eats lizard." The story actually speaks to themes of "be careful what you wish for," "what goes around comes around," the relationships between men and women, and political symbolism about South America. Perhaps most important is the theme of "rich against poor," given Galeano's background and Marxist political beliefs.
Analysis of a short story is sometimes aided by studying its author, so this analysis begins with a look at Eduardo Galeano. Galeano was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1940. His family was middle-class and Catholic, with "Welsh, German, Spanish and Italian ancestry" (ABC Radio National – Australia). He received his education in his native country until he was sixteen (ABC Radio National – Australia). At fourteen, while still in school, he began sending cartoons and articles to left-wing publications (Sherman). According to Galeano himself, his leftist beliefs took hold early: "I had a Catholic infancy and a Marxist adolescence" (Raskin). During those same years, Galeano worked many different jobs — he was "a factory worker, a bill collector, a sign painter, a messenger, a typist, and a bank teller" (Sherman). At age twenty, he became a writer (ABC Radio National – Australia).
Galeano's left-wing beliefs sometimes caused him serious difficulty. During a military coup in Uruguay in 1973, he was imprisoned and then forced to flee the country (ABC Radio National – Australia). He sought refuge in Argentina, but when Argentina experienced its own military coup in 1976, Galeano fled again — this time to Barcelona, Spain. When Uruguay returned to civilian rule in 1985, he was finally able to go home (Sherman). Through it all, Galeano remained a committed left-wing writer: "I think writers should be honest, honest in what they are doing. They shouldn't sell themselves" (Sherman). Because of that honesty, he is recognized as "one of Latin America's fiercest voices of social conscience" (Sherman). His most famous works are Open Veins of Latin America and the Memory of Fire trilogy: Genesis, Faces & Masks, and Century of the Wind (Sherman), but he also wrote short stories, including "The Story of the Lizard Who Had the Habit of Dining on His Wives."
Although his left-wing convictions have brought hardship, they have also earned him recognition and awards. In 1999, the Lannan Foundation established its Cultural Freedom Award, and Galeano received the inaugural honor for his writing about systemic injustice and his work for human freedom (ABC Radio National – Australia). In 2006, Global Exchange — a human rights organization based in San Francisco — awarded him the International Human Rights Award because, "For decades he has been one of Latin America's clearest and most critical voices, using his mastery of the written word to advocate for the defense of human and economic rights for the poor and to expose the historical and contemporary exploitation of Latin America's lands and peoples" (Global Exchange). In 2010, he received the Stig Dagerman Prize, named after a Swedish writer and awarded to outstanding defenders of freedom of speech (Dagerman). Researchers can see that Galeano is celebrated well beyond Latin America for his contributions and his conviction that "Reality is not destiny, it's a challenge" (Sherman). One final biographical detail relevant to understanding the short story is that Galeano had been married three times as of 2008 (Liukkonen and Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto).
"The Story of the Lizard Who Had the Habit of Dining on His Wives" centers on a lizard-boy created by God in answer to a rich woman's prayers for a son. Tired of her pleading, God grants her wish — but the boy, named Dulcidio, has a human face and the body of a lizard (Galeano 291). When Dulcidio turns eighteen, he wants to marry, so his parents find him a human bride. He marries the girl but devours her on their wedding night, leaving only her bones by morning (Galeano 291). This pattern continues: the lizard-man keeps marrying and eating human brides because, "In the households of the poor, there was always some spare girl" (Galeano 291), and no one seems to care.
One day, while resting by the water, the lizard-man spots a mysterious girl who is reading. Intrigued, he boasts to her: "Everything you see and don't see, it's all mine" (Galeano 292), but the girl neither looks up nor responds. He persists, claiming to be "rich but humble, studious, a worker and above all a gentleman who wishes to make a home but has been doomed to widowerhood by the cruelties of fate" (Galeano 292) — carefully omitting that he ate his brides. The girl considers what he says but remains silent. He asks her to scratch his back; she obliges, and the lizard-man "feels as he has never felt" (Galeano 292). He searches for her afterward, but she has vanished — nobody knows who she is or where she has gone (Galeano 293).
One Sunday, seized by a premonition, the lizard-man returns to the riverbank and finds the girl there. He declares his love and "showers her with compliments and caresses" (Galeano 293). They marry, and when they are alone he says, "I give you my heart, for you to tread on" (Galeano 293). The girl blows out the candle, removes her wedding gown, tells him bluntly to stop his nonsense, peels off his skin, pulls his naked body close, and "sets him on fire" (Galeano 294). The lizard-man falls asleep and dreams for the first time in his life. While he sleeps, the girl eats him "in small bites, from head to tail, making little sound and chewing as gently as possible, taking care not to wake him, so that he will not carry away a bad impression" (Galeano 294).
"Fable, allegory, and four thematic readings"
"Original argument linking story to class conflict"
Goodreads, Inc. "Constant Reader Discussion | Short Stories | The Story of the Lizard Who Had the Habit of Dining on His Wives." 17 May 2009. Goodreads.com Web site. Web. 21 March 2012.
Liukkonen, Petri and Ari Pesonen, Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto. "Eduardo Galeano." 2008. Kirjasto Web site. Web. 22 March 2012.
Malan, Michael. "Story Review: The Story of the Lizard Who Had the Habit of Dining on His Wives." 5 November 2010. Lewislitjournal.wordpress.com Web site. Web. 21 March 2012.
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. "Allegory." 2012. Merriam-Webster.com Web site. Web. 21 March 2012.
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. "Fable." 2012. Merriam-Webster.com Web site. Web. 21 March 2012.
Raskin, Jonah. "Saying More with Less: Eduardo Galeano Interviewed by Jonah Raskin." October 2009. Monthly Review Web site. Web. 21 March 2012.
Sherman, Scott. "Words that Must be Said." 30 November 2000. Atlantic Monthly Web site. Web. 21 March 2012.
You’re 53% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 2 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.