Dom Casmurro 3.66 · 3.66

'Tem-se ganho o principal' — the essential is secured. José Dias speaks of the boy's future as a campaign nearly concluded: the mother's fixed will is the decisive ground taken, the rest mere mopping-up. The military tinge of 'ganho', won, quietly reveals how he thinks — life as a series of positions to be held or lost, people as pieces to be moved. It is the same calculating cast of mind he accused the Páduas of, wearing here the friendly face of encouragement.

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