The Coffee Trader

“A true merchant never gives in to gloom. A man who has lived as a Secret Jew always has one more trick to save his skin.” 

During the Inquisition in Portugal, Miguel was forced to live publicly as a New Christian, but he practiced Judaism in secret. Living such a double was extremely dangerous and required great skill in the art of deception. As a trader in Amsterdam, Miguel finds that duplicity and deception are useful skills when engaging in commerce as well.

“Saying the words filled him with giddy defiance; he thought of each openly spoken Hebrew word as a knife in the belly of some Inquisitor somewhere.” 

As a Secret Jew in Lisbon, Miguel had to study Judaism in secret or face torture or death at the Inquisitors’ hands. Living in Amsterdam, he enjoys the freedom to practice his religion in public. Unlike Daniel, who takes this privilege for granted, Miguel values religious freedom and says the Jewish prayers aloud at every opportunity.

“He loved the money that came with success but he loved the power more.” 

Before his failed sugar trade, Miguel enjoyed financial success in Amsterdam. Now he yearns to return to his former lifestyle, not so much for the things he could buy with his money but for the respect and admiration he garnered as a wealthy man. He had especially enjoyed donating money to charity, knowing that he could make the world a better place.

“Miguel had loved the feeling of being included in something larger than himself and of doing something wicked that was, at the same time, righteous.” 

In Lisbon, Miguel’s father and Daniel fully embraced their lives as New Christians to avoid the Inquisitors’ wrath. Miguel, however, has a rebellious streak and an aversion to authority. This led him to join the Secret Jews in defying the Inquisitors and studying Judaism in private.

“When a man starts protesting about a woman’s virtue, it means he’s either had her already or ready or would kill to do so.” 

Alferonda suspects that Miguel is attracted to his sister-in-law Hannah and presses him on the issue. He is amused by Miguel’s insistence that Hannah is far too virtuous to cheat on her husband, as he believes Miguel’s protestations prove his infatuation with Hannah.

“Miguel knew a schemer when he saw one, but schemes were the blood flowing through the city’s veins, and only a fool would refuse to listen.” 

Miguel understands that in the world of trade, everyone is out for their own interests. While it is important to be aware of this, it is also possible to benefit from another man’s schemes. Therefore Miguel approaches opportunities with a cynical yet receptive attitude.

“A man in Miguel’s situation had to fear being prosecuted for crimes that others could perpetrate with impunity.” 

In Amsterdam it is illegal for Jewish traders to broker for gentiles. Although this law is often broken and rarely punished, Miguel realizes that his financial ruin makes him more susceptible to the Ma’amad’s wrath. That’s why when Joachim approaches Miguel at the exchange, Miguel tries to end the conversation quickly.

“They were of all nations, the fellowship of desperation requiring no single language or place of origin, only a willingness to survive by leaping from one precipice to the next.” 

Amsterdam is a city made up of immigrants from many different countries. The different cultures are distinguishable by dress, language, religion, and neighborhood. However, the young traders at the exchange who have not yet made their fortunes are more alike than they are different, united by their desire to succeed and willingness to take risks.

“Here was the worm dangling so deliciously, and Miguel was the fish. He might well get the worm. But did he want a hook through his cheek for the trouble?” 

Even after Parido visits Miguel at Daniel’s home and offers a truce, Miguel remains suspicious of his motives. When Parido gives Miguel a good tip about selling his brandy shares, Miguel recognizes that he will make some money on the deal. However, he suspects that in doing so, he is stepping into a trap that Parido has laid for him.

“We were Jews, and the power of the Ma’amad to take away a man’s identity, his sense of self and belonging, was truly terrifying.” 

As punishment for committing crimes, the Ma’amad regularly excommunicates Jews from the community in Amsterdam. Even for Jews who are not particularly religious, such as Alferonda, the pain of life as an outcast is felt deeply. Being Jewish in Amsterdam is not just about religious worship; it involves one’s entire cultural identity. When Alferonda is excommunicated, he loses that identity.

“The coffee was like a spirit that had taken hold of his body.” 

Miguel is beginning to experience the physical effects of drinking coffee. Unlike liquor, which dulls the senses, coffee heightens them, making Miguel feel more alert and observant. At the exchange, he feels more ready than ever to engage in trade.

“He was a tricky one; he might present himself as a villain one instant and the grandest man in the world the next.” 

Miguel is never certain exactly who Hendrick is, nor does he understand Hendrick’s relationship with Geertruid. Hendrick keeps Miguel guessing about his true nature by presenting him with different sides, sometimes warm and agreeable, sometimes menacing and villainous. Though Hendrick obviously has a duplicitous nature, almost all the characters—Alferonda, Geertruid, Hannah, Annetje, and Miguel himself—prove to be skilled at slipping in and out of different personae.

“How many times does a man stand by foolishly while his life changes form, with no idea that anything out of the ordinary transpires? But for a man to rise to greatness by his own plan and to know the moment that this greatness begins—that was a glorious thing to be savored.” 

Miguel has just told Geertruid his plan for making a fortune in the coffee trade. Here he reflects on the difference between fate and free will. Instead of allowing circumstances to control his life, he is finally taking an active role in determining his future. This realization thrills him.

“You mustn’t criticize the council. Without its guidance, the community would be lost.”

This quote highlights the difference between Miguel and Daniel’s attitudes toward religion. Daniel has no sincere religious faith, but he goes through the motions because it is required by the Ma’amad. He adheres to the rules and doesn’t dare to question them, for fear of penalty. Miguel, on the other hand, has true religious faith and enjoys saying his prayers and studying the Torah. Yet if a council ruling strikes him as unjust, he is not afraid to disagree with it.

“You may tease a man, but only a coward teases a young woman.” 

Alferonda discovered what kind of man Miguel is years ago, when Daniel and the other young boys played a prank on Miguel and a servant girl. Miguel’s anger was not in response to his own humiliation but to the way the girl was treated. Alferonda realized that, despite his transgressions, Miguel is a man of high moral conviction.

“I never stay in one place for long […] I like to visit my relatives in the countryside. It is a sad bird who never leaves her nest.” 

One of Geertruid’s mysteries is her frequent and sudden disappearances. Though Geertruid is something of a free spirit, Miguel eventually suspects that she is not being honest about visiting relatives. Eventually she admits that she and Hendrick are Charming Pieter and his Goodwife Mary, and their escapades in the country involve thievery.

“This council has established itself in the hopes that our people may never have to face those horrors again, but I fear that in truly understanding our enemy we may have become too much like them.” 

As a Secret Jew in Lisbon, Miguel had to publicly abide by the Inquisitors’ rules on pain of death. He moved to Amsterdam to freely practice Judaism only to discover that the Ma’amad also enforces a strict set of rather arbitrary rules that all Jews must follow or risk excommunication. Miguel points out this irony to the council, but they are not pleased with being compared to the Inquisitors.

“I’ve wondered about your loyalties, and I always chastised myself for suspecting that you might favor this man over your own flesh and blood, but now I see you’re nothing but a player in his puppet show. He pulls your strings and you dance.” 

Daniel insists that he must tell the Ma’amad about the pig’s head, and this makes Miguel furious. Miguel believes that family loyalties should come above all others, and that by reporting the incident to the Ma’amad, Daniel will destroy him. Miguel accuses Daniel of aligning himself so closely with Parido that he would sell out his own brother.

“I need you to speak truthfully to me. I know the truth comes hard to a man who has been a Secret Jew.” 

Geertruid implies that Miguel struggles telling the truth because of all the time he spent lying to the Inquisitors in Lisbon about his religion. Although Miguel takes this as an insult, Geertruid assures him that it is only an observation and that Miguel himself has cited deception as one of his skills.

“Don’t talk to me so […] I’m not a child who must be told tales. I know what the world is.” 

When Miguel tries to explain to Hannah why he continues to have contact with Joachim, she finds his explanation condescending and assures him that she doesn’t need him to explain human nature to her. At that moment Miguel realizes that she is no longer the meek, mild housewife he had imagined her to be. Rather, she is a grown woman with a mind of her own.

“A man can live his life through trickery, but there are moments, there must always be moments, when the trickery is exposed.” 

When Annetje tells Daniel about Miguel’s flirtation with Hannah, Miguel believes that he is finally about to be ruined. Because Daniel’s Dutch is poor, he cannot understand Annetje, and so Miguel’s deception remains undetected. Even so, this quote foreshadows the eventual exposure Miguel’s relationship with Hannah. Ironically, the revelation occurs through another deception, when Hannah lies about Miguel being the father of her child.

“He had been cruel to a sad woman who had done nothing worse than be kind to him. He wondered if he had indeed played his hand so badly in all other spheres.” 

After Miguel rejects Hannah’s advances, he realizes he has deceived her about the nature of their relationship by spending time talking with her and giving her gifts. He deeply regrets this, and he worries that his duplicitous words and actions with others like Geertruid and Joachim will also result in a bad end.

“The Ma’amad would expel from the community a righteous man who dared to cast a few coins to an unsanctioned beggar, but Miguel could steal his brother’s wife so long as he did so legally.” 

While the Ma’amad’s council punished Miguel for giving money to Joachim, which was an act of charity, they allow him to marry Hannah even though she was legally wed to Daniel. This demonstrates the council’s arbitrary nature and hypocrisy.