In this highly complex novel the theme of work touched upon in "Youth" is examined not as a personally redemptive element but as a destructive one for Charles Gould, who carries it to excess, and a sterile one for his wife Emilia. Likewise, the theme of personal integrity which Conrad explores earlier, notably in Lord Jim, is again probed in the character who lends his name to the novel's title, Nostromo, the Magnificent Capataz of Cargadores, Gian Battista Fidanza.

Nostromo's pride and sense of self-importance and self-esteem, his fidelity to a concept of self based upon personal integrity and capacity for honest work and his sense of honor in respect to his fiancee all disappear when he executes a fortuitous plan to steal a boat-load of silver he is hiding from the rebels about to invade Sulaco. As a moralist Conrad carries on an...