A multi-layered comment. The political separation of Sulaco is what Mrs Gould means, but a deeper meaning is the acknowledged separation of Emily and Charles Gould's ideals. Because of this conversation Mrs Gould will be dishonest to Charles for the first time in their marriage, withholding the information of the lost battle so that the silver may come down to the sea as planned.

At an even deeper level, "separation" here refers to the separateness of all subjective viewpoints and ideals. Separation is a powerful and complex theme in the novel, especially in the section from this chapter through Chapter 3-3. It is the opposite force from Unionism in the endless political cycle of State-building and State-falling. According to Nostromo's pessimistic philosophy, it exists because every individual is a unique subjective entity with unique goals that demand fulfilment through the conquest of others. The natural state of Man, in other words, is the perpetual war of each against all. Unity is merely the success of someone's conquering ideal, and it can only be maintained by suppressing the individual desires of the governed, which inevitably break free. The result is the breakup of social order into hostile anarchy, a process that now happens to Sulaco beginning with this first voicing of the word.