What It Is
To the victor, the potatoes: the conclusion of the allegory with which Quincas Borba (philosopher) explains his doctrine to Rubião. In a potato field that feeds only one of two starving tribes, peace would be the death of both, and war is the preservation of one, which exterminates the other and keeps the spoils. It is the practical face of Humanitas, and the book carries it from Rubião's ear, which does not understand it, to his mouth, which shouts it without allegory, until the hour of death.
Where It Appears
In chapter VI the philosopher tells the allegory, apropos his grandmother's death: war preserves, peace destroys, to the vanquished hatred or compassion, to the victor the potatoes. Rubião asks about the opinion of the one exterminated and is told that there is no one exterminated.
Ao vencido, ódio ou compaixão; ao vencedor, as batatas, To the vanquished, hatred or compassion; to the victor, the potatoes
In chapter XVIII, at home, as an heir, Rubião understands the allegory for the first time. He sees himself as a victor, thinks of being hard and implacable, imagines a signet ring with the motto, and soon forgets the plan, but the formula lives in him for a few days. The narrator observes that the best way to appreciate the whip is to hold its handle.
o melhor modo de apreciar o chicote é ter-lhe o cabo na mão, the best way to appreciate the whip is to hold its handle
In chapter XXIV, at his first dinner at Santa Teresa, embarrassed before Sofia, Rubião recalls his promise to be strong and implacable, which comes from the same lesson.
In chapter CXCV, on the way to Barbacena, he reaches the town with the dog and shouts the motto he had forgotten. No one receives him.
Ao vencedor, as batatas!, To the victor, the potatoes!
In chapter CXCVIII, on the sunny morning that follows the stormy night, he repeats the motto on seeing the street bathed in light.
In chapter CXCIX, at godmother Angélica's house, feverish, he shouts the motto at the curious gathered at the door, between the declaration that he is emperor and the news that he has captured the King of Prussia. The word is repeated in the street without anyone giving it meaning.
In chapter CC, he dies with a crown on his head that only he sees, and his last words leave the motto half finished.
Guardem a minha coroa, Guard my crown
What It Means
Of the times Rubião says the motto, only the one in chapter XVIII has the allegory behind it: there he thinks of tribes, mountains, and silk quilts. In those from chapter CXCV to chapter CC only the phrase remains, and the one at his death is not even completed. The book also shows, in the same final stretch, where the potatoes went: in chapter CXCI, Cristiano Palha skimmed three contos and two hundred from Rubião's assets, and in chapter CXCII Sofia opens the Botafogo ball wearing a necklace from his first gifts.
Rubião shouts the motto as a promise of victory, and the one who appears reaping the harvest at the end is the Palha couple, who owed him money and skimmed his assets. What the philosopher presented as a general law reaches Rubião as an invitation and is fulfilled, at the denouement, against him.
Relationships
- Standard themes: Money and wealth, Ambition, Madness.
- Characters: Rubião, Quincas Borba (philosopher), Cristiano Palha, and Sofia.
- Neighboring symbols: Humanitas, where the formula comes from, and the imperial crown, with which the last words blend.