Antonia fears that Don Jose will not spiritually survive the death of his cherished Ribierism. But her line has a deeper, allegorical meaning of "Have they killed nationalism?" The snatch of parliamentarian dialogue she overhears is phrased in terms of general principles, which are: self-government is a legitimate goal, human progress is not visibly tied to the institution of the nation (or anything), might makes right. These principles undermine not merely Ribiera's party, but the entire concept of the nation as a means to advance a moral ideal.

The light going out in Antonia's eyes is a crucial moment, highlighted with a paragraph of its own, but in the headlong rush of the narrative we are tempted to skip over it. What does it mean? Partly it is the light of love going out. Decoud was trying to woo Antonia away from Don Jose, but it turns out that her first allegiance is to Don Jose after all, and she can only love Decoud so long as Decoud advanced the patriotic ideal. But this moment is meant to have a profound allegorical meaning too: that idealism's first allegiance is to nationalism, i.e., that idealism requires some sort of civic unity of people acting in a common moral cause. Decoud is "fascinated" because of their earlier conversation (see Chapter 2-5), in which he tied his seduction specifically to the larger attempt to separate idealism from such larger causes and affix it to the individual. On all levels, Decoud has failed.