A narrative generalization that almost explicitly calls attention to the allegory of Nostromo as the People. Note the double meaning of "popular" (essential to Conrad's vision of Nostromo), meaning both "admired" and "pertaining to the People."

Also in this line is the implication that skepticism is the only escape from victimization at the hands of the dream-ideal (the "pitiless enthusiams," the "visions of a high destiny").