MARTÍN FIERRO FOR STUDENTS · THE RETURN · 1879
Canto 32 Explained: Martín Fierro's Advice to His Sons: Brotherhood, Work and Nonviolence
A source-linked English study guide alongside José Hernández’s original Spanish poem.
What happens in Canto 32?
Fierro offers counsel to his two sons and Cruz's son before they part. Drawing on a lifetime of suffering, he values friendship, work, humility, solidarity among brothers, respect for elders, restraint and avoiding theft and unnecessary violence. He warns against drunkenness and speaks of responsibility in relationships. The advice contrasts with Old Vizcacha's more self-interested maxims from Canto XV, but Fierro is a complicated teacher: he previously killed men and attempts at times to justify those acts. His warning against killing is therefore best read alongside his own history.
Original verses: three passages worth studying
The following stanzas are taken directly from the repository's original-text corpus, without modernization. Explanations elsewhere on this page are interpretation, not translation.
Al que es amigo, jamáslo dejen en la estacada,pero no le pidan nadani lo aguarden todo de el:siempre el amigo más fieles una conducta honrada.
Los hermanos sean unidosporque ésa es la ley primeratengan unión verdaderaen cualquier tiempo que sea,porque, si entre ellos pelean,los devoran los de ajuera.
Ave de pico encorvadole tiene al robo afición;pero el hombre de razónno roba jamás un cobre,pues no es vergúenza ser pobrey es vergúenza ser ladrón.
El hombre no mate al hombreni pelé por fantasía;tiene en la desgracia míaun espejo en que mirarse;saber el hombre guardarsees la gran sabiduría.
Main characters and voices
Martín Fierro as father and speaker; his two sons; Picardía, the son of Cruz; Old Vizcacha as the contrasting source of earlier advice, not a speaker here.
Literary themes to identify
Brotherhood and loyalty; the ethics of work; respect and restraint; nonviolence and remorse; learning through suffering; contrast with pragmatic cynicism.
Gaucho vocabulary in context
estacada (in the expression dejar en la estacada, abandon someone in difficulty); picardía (cunning or trickery); vergüenza (honor or shame); ancianos (elders); vicio (vice); consejos (advice).
What to notice in the narration
This is the explicit advice canto, not the preceding setup. Stanza 1160 gives the famous appeal to unity among brothers; stanzas 1166–1167 condemn theft and killing. The difference from Vizcacha is strong but must not be made absolute: both offer practical warnings, while Fierro speaks through an uneven personal history. Cross-references let readers compare exact Spanish stanzas rather than detached slogans.
Related reading: Old Vizcacha versus Martín Fierro: comparing advice
Reading-comprehension and discussion questions
- What does Fierro say about loyalty to a friend?
- Why does he urge brothers to remain united?
- How does the warning against killing relate to his own violent past?
- How do his maxims about theft and work compare with Vizcacha's advice?
- Which lessons can be read as universal ethical principles, and which require attention to the narrator's limitations?
Support answers with details from the original canto. Different interpretations may be justified if the quoted passages and narrative context support them.
Sources and further reading
Primary source: José Hernández, La vuelta de Martín Fierro (1879), Canto 32, reproduced from the site's structured Spanish corpus. Summary and questions are original English educational commentary, not quoted authorial explanations.
Original canto · Summary of both parts · Character guide · All study guides