Tender Is the Flesh

Tender Is the Flesh is a 2017 dystopian novel by Argentinian writer Agustina Bazterrica. Against the backdrop of a society in which cannibalism has been normalized, Bazterrica examines such themes as misogyny, the commodification of humanity, and the use of language to mask wrongdoing. The novel won the Clarín Novel Prize and has been translated into several languages.

This guide is based on the 2020 Scribner edition, translated from Spanish into English by Sarah Moses.

Content Warning: The source text includes graphic depictions of cannibalism, sexual assault, mass human suffering, incarceration, misogynistic violence (including reproductive violence), and death by suicide.

Plot Summary

After a virus makes it unsafe for people to eat or interact with animals, much of the world’s animal population is exterminated. Some people turn to cannibalism to meet their demand for meat. This movement gains momentum until cannibalism is legalized, and the production of humans for slaughter becomes a large and profitable business.

Drawing on his experience working at his father’s beef and pork slaughterhouse growing up, Marcos Tejo is a manager at Krieg, a slaughterhouse for humans. Tejo’s father has dementia and lives in an expensive nursing home. Tejo visits him frequently, but his sister Marisa never does. Meanwhile, Tejo’s wife, Cecilia, currently lives with her mother, following the death of her and Tejo’s newborn child.

Over a few days, Tejo visits various clients and suppliers, including a tannery, a breeding center, and butcher shops. Tejo has a long-running sexual relationship with a butcher, Spanel, who used to work at Tejo’s father’s meat plant; their trysts provide momentary escapes from their morally dubious work.

To make up for some mistakes in a recent shipment, one of the suppliers gifts Tejo a valuable female human raised as livestock, to either be eaten or used for breeding. Tejo, who stopped eating meat after the death of his son, keeps her in his barn. At first, she is a burden, but Tejo finds himself growing fond of her and eventually names her Jasmine.

Returning to Krieg after several days away, Tejo leads two job applicants on a tour of the plant, showing how the humans kept as livestock are inspected, cleaned, stunned, and killed, their various body parts separated and preserved. One of the applicants is sickened by what he sees, while the other finds it exciting. Tejo sends the latter away, realizing he is only interested in seeing the spectacle.

One day, Tejo eats lunch with Marisa and her two children. Marisa asks Tejo to help her get a good price on a human raised for slaughter. Tejo refuses.

Tejo frequently stops to reminisce at an abandoned zoo that he visited with his father as a child. One day, he finds and plays with a litter of puppies, only leaving them when adult dogs appear. Later, he returns to witness teenagers torturing and killing the puppies.

Laws prohibit sex between people with full citizenship and those who are raised as livestock. Despite this, Tejo begins having sex with Jasmine and teaches her to live in his house. She soon becomes pregnant.

At work, Tejo receives a visit from the Church of the Immolation, whose members sometimes choose to donate their bodies as meat. He also visits a game reserve, where people raised as livestock are hunted. While there, he reluctantly joins the owner, Urlet, and several hunters in dining on freshly prepared meat. Tejo also pays a visit to his least favorite client, Dr. Valka, who orders humans raised as livestock for use in various scientific experiments.

One day, Tejo is surprised by a visit from a government inspector who wants to verify that Tejo is keeping all regulations related to raising human livestock domestically. Panicking, Tejo calls a high-ranking friend of his, who cancels the inspection.

A few days later, Tejo’s father dies and is cremated. Tejo scatters his ashes at the zoo. Marisa insists on hosting a farewell service in her home, though she does so for social reasons and not out of grief. During the service, Tejo confronts Marisa, whom he considers superficial. During the service, a group of poor people known as Scavengers violently intercept a shipment of human livestock on the way to Krieg. Rushing to the plant, Tejo plans to leave poisoned meat for the Scavengers to eat in a few weeks’ time.

When Jasmine goes into labor, Tejo calls Cecilia and asks her to return home. She does so and helps deliver the baby. Tejo kills Jasmine, and he and Cecilia plan to pass the baby off as their own.