And here the theme recurs in which the silver on the island corresponds to the
dream-ideal of individual fulfilment, while the silver ashore correponds to the
large-scale social dream-ideals of politics and oppression. The "piecemeal"
movement of silver from "the island" to society symbolizes the slow
attempt at reforming society to recognize individual worth (or, if the attempt
is vain, the slow process by which individual worth is thereby corrupted).