Dom Casmurro 26.11 · 26.11

'Trabalharei com alma' is pure José Dias — the effort inflated to a matter of the soul, the small task swollen to a labor of the whole being. And then, mid-flight, the sudden check: 'Devéras, não quer ser padre?' He wants the wish confirmed from the boy's own mouth before he carries it anywhere.

The question is not idle. José Dias is a careful reader of the household's winds, and Dona Glória's vow to make Bento a priest is the sacred axis of that house. Before he touches it he makes sure of his ground, and perhaps makes sure of his cover — that he is only relaying the son's own settled desire. 'Devéras' asks Bento to own the choice fully, so that whatever José Dias does next can be laid at the boy's feet, not his own.

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