Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard

Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard is a 1904 modernist novel by Polish British author Joseph Conrad. Originally published as a two-volume serial in T.P.’s Weekly, Nostromo is the story of an Italian dockworker who becomes swept up in the political turmoil of a fictional Latin American country in the late 19th Century. An example of modernist literature, Nostromo has been heralded as one of Conrad’s greatest works and has been adapted for film, television, and radio. 

This guide is based on the 2009 Oxford World’s Classics edition of Nostromo.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of death.

Plot Summary

Nostromo is set in the fictional South American republic of Costaguana during a violent revolution. The story concerns an Italian longshoreman named Nostromo, who becomes entrusted to safeguard a priceless silver mine owned by an Englishman named Charles Gould. 

Following years of colonial tyranny and violent revolution, Costaguana has entered a period of relative political stability under the rule of dictator Don Vincente Ribiera. In the fictional mining town of Sulaco, a seaport on the west coast of Costaguana, a local man of English descent named Charles Gould takes over his father’s silver mine. The mine has been a terrible burden on his father: When the newly independent government signed the mine over to his father, they demanded that he pay a financially ruinous advance on future profits, though the mine was not profitable. His father obsessed over the impossible mine during his later years, imbuing Charles with a determination to make the mine a success.

Gould is sick of the rampant corruption and volatility in his region. He plans to use the wealth he gains from the mine to support Ribiera’s regime, hoping the dictator will bring stability. Gould brings his wife, the elegant English-born Mrs. Emilia Gould, to Sulaco to help. When the mine becomes lucrative, the Goulds become influential in the politics of Costaguana. As soon as the Goulds help elect Ribiera to a five-year term as national leader, revolutionary soldiers led by General Montero (Ribiera’s former Minister of War) stage a violent coup to overthrow Ribiera. Costaguana is thrown into chaos as a result. Soon after the capital city is captured, Sulaco is invaded by Montero’s men.

Afraid of having his fortune seized, Gould seeks the help of Nostromo, an Italian sailor known in the area as capataz de los cargadores (head longshoreman), to help safeguard the latest shipment of his silver ingots. Gould orders Nostromo to transport the silver offshore so it can sell across international marketplaces. Nostromo, whose real name is Giovanni Battista Fidanza, is an Italian who became the foreman of the Oceanic Steam and Navigation team (OSN), caretakers who oversee the Sulaco shoreline. Nostromo is widely respected throughout Sulaco, uniquely command the respect and loyalty of the local working-class men and therefore highly valuable to the capitalists who depend on their labor. For his bravery and boldness, Nostromo climbed the ranks to become the official point man for every powerful person in Sulaco. The name Nostromo—derived from the phrase nostro uomo (our man)—means “shipmate” in Italian. The word Fidanza means “trust,” meaning Nostromo is a trusted everyman in Sulaco whom the wealthy see as a useful tool. Nostromo is considered by Gould and his men to be incorruptible. As Nostromo becomes the formidable town enforcer, ridding thieves and protecting the mine from rebel forces, he helps Ribiera flee Costaguana before he is captured by violent revolutionaries.

As a political turmoil ensues, Gould and the political elite of Sulaco trust Nostromo. He must first move a shipment of silver out of Sulaco before rebels can seize it. On the way, Nostromo receives help from a young political activist named Martin Decoud, who will face severe punishment for his published criticism of Montero once Montero invades the region. Decoud is convinced that the silver will be an important part of his plan to lead Sulaco as it forms a break-away republic, a nation led by foreign elites and funded by ventures such as the silver mine and the railway. Nostromo arranges to meet a passing boat and transport Decoud and the silver onto it for shipment. They manage to successfully flee Sulaco, but on their way out of the harbor, a panicked stowaway named Hirsch is discovered onboard. The trio drift through the dark, windless night, fearing that they will be caught before they can get the silver to safety.

Soon after, a vessel full of rebels led by Colonel Sotillo hits the small boat that is transporting the silver, causing the ship to spring a leak. During the commotion, Hirsch falls overboard and gets picked up by the vessel. Nostromo and Decoud salvage the silver by directing the small boat to the shores of a deserted island, Great Isabel. Nostromo instructs Decoud to bury the silver, giving him a lifeboat in case problems arise. Nostromo then sails to the center of the harbor and sinks the boat. He swims back to Sulaco to devise a new plan. Once he reaches the shore, he finds a safe place to hide and collapses into a deep, exhausted sleep while the revolutionaries continue to advance on Sulaco.

Nostromo aids the rebellion by traversing the mountains to bring General Barrios back to Sulaco. His efforts lead to the creation of the independent Occidental Republic. Meanwhile, left alone too long, Decoud loses his mind on the deserted island. Decoud eventually takes the lifeboat out to sea, weighs himself down with ingots of silver, and shoots himself. Nostromo decides to keep the buried silver for himself, as it is already assumed to be lost. This decision proves to be Nostromo’s ultimate downfall, as he must find a way to expand his wealth and fortune subtly without alerting anyone to his possession of a vast quantity of stolen silver.

In addition to feeling slighted and used for his efforts in the war, Nostromo becomes consumed by his buried fortune. The OSN builds a lighthouse on Great Isabel; the construction of which Nostromo thinks will threaten to expose the buried silver. Anxious and paranoid, Nostromo installs his friends, the Violas, to oversee the lighthouse. For a long time, Giorgio Viola has presumed that Nostromo will marry his eldest daughter, Linda. Nostromo instead falls in love with the younger daughter, Giselle. This creates a fierce jealousy between the two sisters as Nostromo continues to slowly remove the buried silver from the island.

The novel ends with Nostromo sneaking around the treasure one night. Giorgio Viola spots a man courting his daughter, Giselle. Though the man is Nostromo, Viola mistakes him for another suitor—a man named Ramirez, whom he distrusts—and shoots him dead. On his deathbed, Nostromo apologizes to Emilia Gould for stealing her husband’s silver. Having grown estranged from her husband in this time, Emilia would prefer that the silver were lost forever.