The chief engineer is a materialist to the extent that he doesn't even have a name. In that capacity he is a thematic echo of Charles Gould, but the difference is that the chief engineer doesn't idealize materialism as a Unifying force, as Gould does. The chief is a Separatist by nature who understands that the world is a constant struggle between antagonistic forces. The brief encounter between him and Charles Gould over the San Tomé dynamite is telling: the chief calls the dynamite a "weapon," implying battle between divided factions, while Charles Gould calls it an "argument," implying the Unifying process of persuasion.