This too is in keeping with Decoud's letter, wherein Don Jose invoked "God's name" to sanction the Separatist plan. Of course, that is what Decoud thought he meant. Here too, Decoud's interpretation of "consent" is subtly undercut by the phrase "as if," and the open question of whether Don Jose even understood what he was hearing. The theme of incomplete communication continues.

If Don Jose does support the Separatist plan, it is worth restating what that implies: to achieve the moral "regeneration"of the nation, the patriot is sacrificing the nation. He thus joins Charles Gould, Mrs Gould and Nostromo in having reached the point where the abstract dream-ideal demands the sacrifice of its supposed beneficiaries.