The novel's first lines of dialogue present, in miniature, the translation of the ideal ("we never make mistakes") into the oppression of others ("I'll have no mistakes here").

Dialogue in Nostromo is often illuminating when lifted out of context. When Captain Mitchell says "we never make mistakes," he is referring to the O.S.N., but as the first line of dialogue in the novel it invites a broader philosophical meaning. The plot of Nostromo is a continuous stumbling farce of miscommunication, false identification, successful deceit, accidental collision and tragically errant choices. The end result is "history" (another favorite word of Captain Mitchell's), and a novel that works to thoroughly gainsay its first spoken words.