The Theme in the Work
Almost all the loyalties in the book are conditional, and the novel shows them on stage before any accusation. José Dias confesses to Bentinho's father, in chapter V, that he is not a doctor, and he stays in the house; he switches sides in front of the winner in chapter C, when he reveals that he knows about the courtship and that Dona Glória approves. Dona Glória owes God a priest and comes to hope, as the narrator says he only later came to suspect, that her son's courtship would release her without fault of her own (chapter LXXX); the vow is finally settled by a substitute proposed by Escobar (chapter XCVI). Capitu and Bentinho swear at the well, in chapter XLVIII, that they will marry whatever happens, a formula she corrects so that it obliges them to marry, and not merely to wait. Bentinho holds against his mother, in thought, the idea that with her dead the seminary ends (chapter LXVII), and against Escobar the moment of vertigo and sin when he presses Sancha's hand (chapter CXVIII). He confesses both and forgives them quickly.
What the book does not show is the scene of betrayal of which Bentinho accuses Capitu and Escobar. It shows the web of small, real loyalties that the story runs through: the secret for secret, in which Escobar receives his friend's secret and gives back an identical one (chapter LXXVIII); Escobar's help as go-between in the exchange of letters (chapter XCVIII); the dedication on the portrait, which reassures Bentinho minutes before the news of his friend's death arrives (chapter CXX); the funeral eulogy he compares to the gesture of Priam (chapter CXXV). In chapter CXXXVIII, Capitu asks him several times to say everything, and hears that there are things one does not say. The accusation receives no defense because the accuser never gets as far as formulating it.
The last chapter condenses the verdict into a sentence in which destiny is the subject of the wanting: the first friend and the greatest friend ended up joining together and deceiving him (chapter CXLVIII). Even at the point closest to sentence, the wanting is handed to a force from outside, and the act is left to the two of them.
The theme divides into two books: that of the loyalties which the scenes verify, and that of the disloyalty which only the narrator asserts. The asymmetry can be read as the failure of a man who does not grant the other the benefit of the doubt he grants himself, or as a figure of a truth the text has no way to show. The novel sustains both readings.
Where It Appears
- Chapter V: José Dias confesses to Bentinho's father that he was not a doctor, just as he is sent to see to the sick enslaved people, and he stays in the house, becoming indispensable without asking for anything.
- Chapter XLVIII: Capitu corrects the formula of Bentinho's oath: instead of only ruling out another marriage, the two swear that they will marry each other, whatever happens.
- Chapter LXV: Capitu stops Bentinho from telling the secret to Escobar, because the secret is not his alone, and explains her dissimulation before Dona Glória and Dona Justina, saying the oath at the well is enough for her.
- Chapter LXVII: On the way home, Hope whispers to Bentinho the idea that with his mother dead the seminary ends, a thought he calls a suggestion of lust and selfishness.
- Chapter LXXVIII: Bentinho confesses to Escobar that he cannot be a priest, and Escobar, in exchange, reveals that he does not want to finish his studies; only afterward does Bentinho tell him about the courtship, in a pact in which each is bound to the other's silence.
- Chapter LXXX: The narrator says, as something he later came to suspect, that Dona Glória began to hope her son's courtship would undo the vow without fault on her part, and he compares Capitu to the carrier who keeps the money of a debt.
- Chapter XCVI: Escobar proposes that Dona Glória fulfill the vow by giving God an orphan ordained at her expense, and announces in the same conversation that he too will leave the seminary.
- Chapter XCVIII: Escobar serves as go-between in the exchange of letters between Bentinho and Capitu, who preferred José Dias as carrier, and later marries Sancha, her friend.
- Chapter CXVIII: The long pressure of Sancha's hand gives Bentinho a moment of vertigo and sin, which he reduces to nothing in twenty minutes, in front of Escobar's portrait, calling himself disloyal.
- Chapter CXX: Bentinho recovers from the abominations of the day before by studying some court records and rereading the dedication on Escobar's portrait, and a few minutes later the news of his friend's death arrives.
- Chapter CXXV: Bentinho compares his situation to that of Priam, who kisses the hand of the man who killed his son, and treats the funeral eulogy for Escobar as that same gesture.
- Chapter CXXXVIII: Capitu asks Bentinho several times to say everything; he refuses and alludes to loves without naming them, and she answers that not even the dead escape his jealousy.
- Chapter CXLVIII: Bentinho concludes that the first friend and the greatest friend ended up joining together and deceiving him, and he attributes to destiny only the wanting, in a sentence that the ellipses leave hanging.
Passages
Capitu and Bentinho swear at the well.
juremos que nos havemos de casar um com outro, haja o que houver, let us swear that we shall marry each other, come what may
Capitu explains the dissimulation that protects the courtship.
Com D. Glória e D. Justina mostro-me naturalmente alegre, para que não pareça que a denúncia de José Dias é verdadeira. Se parecesse, elas tratariam de separar-nos mais, e talvez acabassem não me recebendo... Para mim, basta o nosso juramento de que nos havemos de casar um com outro., With Dona Glória and Dona Justina I show myself naturally cheerful, so that José Dias's accusation will not seem true. If it seemed true, they would take steps to separate us further, and perhaps end by not receiving me... For me, our oath that we shall marry each other is enough.
The thought Bentinho confesses against his mother.
foi então que a Esperança, para combater o Terror, me segredou ao coração, não estas palavras, pois nada articulou parecido com palavras, mas uma ideia que poderia ser traduzida por elas: “Mamãe defunta, acaba o seminário.”, it was then that Hope, to fight Terror, whispered to my heart, not these words, for nothing like words was uttered, but an idea that could be translated by them: “Mama dead, finish the seminary.”
Escobar trades one secret for another.
Segredo por segredo; também eu tenho o propósito de não acabar o curso; meu desejo é o comércio, mas não diga nada, absolutamente nada; fica só entre nós., Secret for secret; I too intend not to finish the course; my wish is for commerce, but do not say anything, absolutely nothing; it stays between us.
The hope the narrator attributes to Dona Glória.
Era como se, tendo confiado a alguém a importância de uma dívida para levá-la ao credor, o portador guardasse o dinheiro consigo e não levasse nada., It was as if, having entrusted someone with the amount of a debt to take it to the creditor, the bearer kept the money for himself and took nothing.
The way out Escobar proposes.
Sua mãe fez promessa a Deus de lhe dar um sacerdote, não é? Pois bem, dê-lhe um sacerdote, que não seja você. Ela pode muito bem tomar a si algum mocinho órfão, fazê-lo ordenar à sua custa, está dado um padre ao altar, sem que você..., Your mother made a vow to God to give him a priest, did she not? Very well, give him a priest, but let it not be you. She can quite well take in some orphan boy, have him ordained at her expense, and there is a priest given to the altar, without you...
Escobar joins the exchange of letters.
Ele foi o terceiro na troca das cartas entre mim e Capitu., He was the third party in the exchange of letters between me and Capitu.
The moment with Sancha, counted against himself.
Foi um instante de vertigem e de pecado., It was a moment of vertigo and sin.
The dedication that reassures Bentinho.
Ao meu querido Bentinho o seu querido Escobar. 20-4-70., To my dear Bentinho, his dear Escobar. 20-4-70.
The comparison with Priam.
Príamo julga-se o mais infeliz dos homens, por beijar a mão daquele que lhe matou o filho, Priam thinks himself the most unhappy of men, for kissing the hand of the man who killed his son
Capitu hears the accusation through the only allusion Bentinho lets slip.
Pois até os defuntos! Nem os mortos escapam aos seus ciúmes!, Even the dead! Not even the dead escape his jealousy!
The sentence that closes the verdict, with destiny as its subject.
a minha primeira amiga e o meu maior amigo, tão extremosos ambos e tão queridos também, quis o destino que acabassem juntando-se e enganando-me..., my first friend and my greatest friend, both so devoted and so dear, fate willed that they should end up joining together and deceiving me...