Dom Casmurro 15.42 · 15.42

The father completes his thought — 'Parece dezesete' — then swings, with a neighbour's courtesy, to Bento's mother: 'Mamãe está boa?' The pride in his daughter gives way to the small ritual of asking after Dona Glória.

The pivot is socially perfect and quietly telling. Pádua is deferential toward the Santiago house, and the polite inquiry after 'mamãe' marks the difference in station between the humble father and the boy from the big family next door. Two households touch here, courteously, across the wall that structures the whole novel.

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