The narrator successfully argues S’s superiority over Vévoda because of his attraction to money.

On one hand Vévoda’s son is presented as “the axis around which the party whirls and time passes” (410).  The narrator uses this to allude to the axis powers of World War II.  Not only did Vévoda think the world revolved around him, but he also had all of the evil tendencies that the axis powers had.  Vévoda does not care who he has to kill so that he can make his money.

On the flip side Sola and S “pass by” “the location of Covarrubias’s richest cache of treasure” in S’s fantasy land as they approach the Chateau.  S and Sola are on a mission for some version of justice, and nothing seems to be able to stop them, while Vévoda is on a mission for money, and nothing will stop him.