Money and Wealth

The Theme in the Work

The book opens with Rubião already rich. In Chapter I, at the window in Botafogo, he compares his past as a teacher with his present as a capitalist, and everything, from his slippers to the sky, enters the same sensation of ownership.

In Chapter X, as he hides from the doctor the philosopher's delirious letter, Rubião calculates the legacy and fears voiding the will.

In Chapter XIV, once the will is opened, he is the universal heir, with a single condition: to keep Quincas Borba (the dog) and treat him as a person.

In Chapter XV, he estimates the inheritance at between one hundred and three hundred contos and hesitates between shining in Barbacena and moving to Rio.

In Chapter XXI, on the train, he tells Cristiano Palha and Sofia about the inheritance, and Palha, whose eyes lit up on hearing talk of Europe, reflects and only then asks for discretion.

In Chapter L, on hearing from Sofia what Rubião did in the garden, Palha stops downplaying it only when she speaks of cooling relations, and then he confesses that he owes him a great deal of money.

In Chapter LXI, Rubião, who had come only to sign a sheet, puts five contos into Camacho's Atalaia.

In Chapter LXIX, he is Palha's partner, without understanding the numbers, out of trust in him, and the text shows Sofia inside the decision from the start.

In Chapter CVIII, kept away from Flamengo, he subscribes five contos to Sofia's subscription and asks Palha for ten, and Palha, who holds his bonds, advises caution and ends up giving in.

In Chapter CX, he takes out the loans and pays Camacho for the Atalaia paper.

In Chapter CXXVIII, Palha proposes dissolving the partnership in order to run a bank, and Rubião accepts the reason.

In Chapter CXXIX, the narrator reveals that there was no bank: Palha invented the reason because the truth would not serve, and he prospers with shares, bonds, and war supplies.

In Chapter CXXXIII, the legend of Rubião's wealth attracts dinner guests, who owe him money and dine at six sharp, with or without the host.

In Chapter CXCI, in a note to Dona Fernanda, Sofia reports that Palha has liquidated his assets and come up with three contos and two hundred.

In Chapter CXCII, Sofia inaugurates the Botafogo salons with a ball and a necklace from Rubião's first gifts.

Rubião calculates the inheritance only while it is a promise. Once he has it, the money passes through him on its way to those who know how to count: Palha knows the sum and watches the capital shrink, Camacho is paid for the paper's sheet, the dinner guests dine at six, and the Palha couple end up with the necklace and the three contos and two hundred. Money is the only subject on which no one in the book speaks in circumlocutions, and the only one on which Rubião does not do the sums.

Where It Appears

• Chapter I: Rubião, at the window in Botafogo, compares his past as a teacher with his present as a capitalist, and everything, from his slippers to the sky, enters the same sensation of ownership.
• Chapter X: While hiding Quincas Borba's letter from the doctor, for fear of voiding the will, Rubião calculates the legacy.
• Chapter XIV: Once the will is opened, Rubião is the universal heir of everything, with a single condition: to keep the dog Quincas Borba, treat him as a person, and bury him among flowers.
• Chapter XV: Rubião thinks only of the inheritance, which he estimates at between one hundred and three hundred contos, and hesitates between shining in Barbacena and moving to Rio.
• Chapter XXI: On the train, Rubião tells of the inheritance, which he estimates at no less than three hundred contos, and Palha, who had been glowing at talk of Europe, no longer glows, reflects, and asks for discretion.
• Chapter L: Cristiano Palha confesses to his wife, Sofia, that he owes Rubião a great deal of money, after downplaying what his friend did in the garden.
• Chapter LXI: Rubião, who was only going to sign Camacho's sheet, ends up putting in five contos as a partner in the Atalaia.
• Chapter LXIX: When Carlos Maria declares himself to Sofia at the ball, Rubião is already Cristiano Palha's business partner.
• Chapter CVIII: Kept away from Flamengo for months, Rubião subscribes five contos to Sofia's subscription and asks Cristiano Palha for ten, and Palha, who holds his bonds, advises caution and ends up giving in.
• Chapter CX: Rubião takes out the loans, pays Camacho for the Atalaia paper, and hears from him an article that warns the party against its allies.
• Chapter CXXVIII: Cristiano Palha, backed by Camacho, says he will liquidate the business to run a bank and wants to dissolve the partnership with Rubião, who accepts the reason.
• Chapter CXXIX: The narrator reveals that Palha invented the bank, since the truth would not serve, and that he prospers with shares, bonds, and war supplies and already thinks of a mansion and a barony.
• Chapter CXXXIII: Rubião's dinner guests owe him money and dine at six sharp, with or without the host, gnawing at their hunger while they wait and listening in silence to the host's speeches.
• Chapter CXCI: Sofia reports that Cristiano Palha has come up with three contos and two hundred from Rubião's assets, while Rubião is in the sanatorium, where the director promises a cure in six or eight months.
• Chapter CXCII: In October, Sofia inaugurates the Botafogo salons with a ball, wearing a necklace from Rubião's first gifts.

Passages

The first chapter measures the world by property.

Palha's debt comes to the surface when his wife speaks of cutting off relations.

The capital is being holed without any storm.

Rubião answers Palha's proverb with a quip.