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 ).