The lines of The Slum that best sum up the book are these seven, with who says each one and in which chapter.
"It was no longer ambition, it was a nervous malady, a madness, a desperation to accumulate; to reduce everything to money." It is the narrator, in chapter I, about João Romão, who sells the egg he likes instead of eating it.
"The police have never come in here, nor will we ever let them in!" It is João Romão, in chapter IV, showing the courtyard of the tenement to the quarryman Jerônimo.
"There's no way to live, each one master and owner of what is his!" It is Rita Baiana, in chapter VI, refusing the idea of marriage.
"And Jerônimo became Brazilianized." It is the narrator, in chapter IX, after recounting that the quarryman swapped wine for cane brandy, salt cod for black beans, and began smoking with his friends.
"Whoever ate my flesh must gnaw my bones!" It is Bertoleza, in chapter XXI, when she demands that João Romão stay by her side and give her her share.
"The tenement became aristocratic." It is the narrator, in chapter XXII, when the tenement begins to demand a letter of surety and to raise its prices.
"It was a commission of abolitionists coming, in evening dress! to respectfully bring him the diploma of honorary member." It is the narrator, in chapter XXIII, at the very moment Bertoleza kills herself in the kitchen.