49 pages • 1 hour read
Agustina BazterricaTender Is the Flesh
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Stone Heart
Starting with a dream that Tejo has the night after destroying Leo’s cot, Tejo begins to sense a hardening sensation in his heart, with a stone figuratively replacing the organ that represents love and emotion. Tejo feels the stone expanding or spreading at several key moments, and in each case, he lashes out with anger instead of feeling compassion for others. First, following the death of his father, Tejo treats Nélida bitterly before succumbing to his grief. Later, while visiting Marisa, Tejo again feels a stony sensation when he criticizes Marisa for being superficial. The stone’s influence surges as Tejo devises a plan to rid the area around Krieg of Scavengers. For a moment, he hesitates, remembering a starving young boy among the Scavengers that he passed on the road, but his resolve returns as the stone dissolves into bits in his throat.
The stone’s trajectory, therefore, is linked to Tejo’s increasing ruthlessness and detachment in dealing with the people and problems around him. The stone is mentioned one last time, in passing, at the novel’s conclusion, as Tejo holds his baby in his arms. In that moment, he “feels the shards of stone shrink, lose their hold” (208). The disappearance of the stone in this moment is debatable, however, in light of Tejo’s decision moments later to murder Jasmine. The stone thus traces Tejo’s progression toward full desensitization and acceptance of The Commodification of Humanity Under Capitalism.
The Zoo
Tejo frequently visits an abandoned zoo that is located between his home and the city. As a relic of humanity’s former relationship with animals, the zoo symbolizes the world that once was. This association is reinforced by Tejo’s memories of visiting the zoo with his father. Over his repeated visits to the zoo, Tejo witnesses and models the Transition from the old world to the new one, as he first befriends animals and then watches those animals die at the hands of teenagers. Later, he kicks down the zoo’s sign, symbolizing the corruption of language. Finally, he scatters his father’s ashes at the zoo, which constitutes an act of farewell, both to his father and to the world that once was. By reminding Tejo of the value and beauty of animals, the zoo ties into the Ethics of Meat Consumption.
Leo’s Cot
Leo’s cot is a small bed that Tejo slept in when he was a child and Leo slept in a few times before he died. Decorated with images of happy animals, including a bear, a duck, and several squirrels, the cot is now thoroughly outdated. Before Leo’s birth, the cot represents his parents’ hope and optimism for the future. Following his death while sleeping in the cot, however, it becomes a reminder of their loss, and Tejo plans to destroy it before Cecilia returns home. He musters the courage to do so only after he receives a call from his wife, the first since she left for her mother’s home. He also drinks whiskey to help him through the solemn ordeal of cutting and burning the cot. Thematically, the destruction of the cot relates to Tejo’s struggle to find motivation and meaning in a world that treats him like a product, opening the way for him to begin moving past his grief and initiate a relationship with Jasmine, shedding further light on The Commodification of Humanity Under Capitalism.
Smoking and Drinking
Tejo is a heavy smoker and a regular drinker, so it is no surprise that he engages in both activities throughout the text. However, careful attention to his smoking and drinking as recurring motifs yields occasional insights into his frame of mind. For instance, he often feels the need to smoke just before entering or after leaving a slaughterhouse or similar establishment, suggesting that these buildings take an emotional toll on him. Tejo usually smokes alone, but he and Spanel smoke together, indicating that their relationship centers on mutual, temporary escape. Tejo’s drinking habits, meanwhile, give insight into his grieving process, as when he opens a bottle of whiskey instead of visiting with Jasmine, as is his custom, on the night following his father’s death. Overall, Tejo’s reliance on substances to escape his dreary life emphasizes the tragic elements of his character.
