This could be foreshadowing. Decoud does wait until "the very last
moment" to take the boat (from the Great Isabel), and one could say that
by taking the four ingots with him he forces Nostromo to "come along, too,"
i.e., to join him in hesitation, uncertainty, and death. The use of "the
Capataz" rather than "Nostromo" is significant: it is precisely
the aspect of the Capataz -- the faithful leader of the People -- that dies in
Nostromo (see ).