Dom Casmurro 25.117 · 25.117

Bentinho, cornered by the seminary, has learned to fight on José Dias's own ground — the ground of obligations. Having heard the agregado catalogue his many duties, the boy turns one back on him: to the duty of obeying Dona Glória he adds another, 'o de proteger os amigos, como eu.' The move is quietly clever. Bentinho enrolls himself among José Dias's friends and makes protection a debt owed to him personally, so that neutrality would look like betrayal.

The whole exchange in the Passeio Publico is a negotiation dressed as affection, and here the boy makes his first bid. Machado lets us watch Bentinho begin to manipulate, gently, the man who has spent the novel manipulating everyone else. The pupil is imitating the master, and the imitation is the point.

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