Indeed, at the end of the novel the treasure winds up being "left safely"
in this spot, its location unknown to anyone. In that capacity it serves as a
symbol of mankind's true treasure, the individual soul, left hidden "for
hundreds of years," perhaps, until a social system arises to transcend politics
with love. Nostromo does not predict, define, or even hope for such a system,
but what optimism there is in the novel concerns just this: the imperishability
of the valuable soul until that day. "Time is on its side, señor";
it is a thought to inspire "profound" pleasure indeed. Decoud's play
on "incorruptible" draws attention to the symbolic parallel between
the silver and "men."