In the highly charged metaphor of this chapter, these lines become elevated to universal statements. In a world of illusions that hold us together in society, the "only incontrovertible truth" is that without society we would be isolated in the utter night of our subjective selves. The "peril" of the lighter sinking, of society finally evaporating, is the "inspiration" that drives mankind's highest efforts, and perhaps drives all human action. We are reminded of Antonia, who argued that patriotism (the ideal of united society) is noble because it stands "for sacrifice, for courage, for constancy, for suffering." In Conrad's pessimistic view, the root of these great qualities is terror, a terror of sinking in the darkness, a pervasive terror not unlike that of Señor Hirsch.