How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Charles Gould's position—a commanding position in the background of that attempt to retrieve the peace and the credit of the Republic—was very clear. At the beginning he had had to accommodate himself to existing circumstances of corruption so naively brazen as to disarm the hate of a man courageous enough not to be afraid of its irresponsible potency to ruin everything it touched. It seemed to him too contemptible for hot anger even. He made use of it with a cold, fearless scorn, manifested rather than concealed by the forms of stony courtesy which did away with much of the ignominy of the situation. (II.1.17)
This passage emphasizes that Charles's political power, while in the background of things, is clear to basically everyone (even though he denies political involvement). He's very much the man behind the curtain.
Quote #8
"That!—that! oh, that's really the work of that Genoese seaman! But to return to my noises; there used to be in the old days the sound of trumpets outside that gate. War trumpets! I'm sure they were trumpets. I have read somewhere that Drake, who was the greatest of these men, used to dine alone in his cabin on board ship to the sound of trumpets. In those days this town was full of wealth. Those men came to take it. Now the whole land is like a treasure-house, and all these people are breaking into it, whilst we are cutting each other's throats. The only thing that keeps them out is mutual jealousy. But they'll come to an agreement some day—and by the time we've settled our quarrels and become decent and honourable, there'll be nothing left for us. It has always been the same. We are a wonderful people, but it has always been our fate to be"—he did not say "robbed," but added, after a pause—"exploited!" (II.5.9)
Here Martin Decoud voices another unpopular opinion: Costaguana is exploited. Naturally, the other aristocrats/foreigners he's speaking do not want to hear this. No one wants to hear nasty words like "exploited" when they're getting rich and powerful off of the land.
Quote #9
Nobody in the town has any real power except the railway engineers, whose men occupy the dismantled houses acquired by the Company for their town station on one side of the Plaza, and Nostromo, whose Cargadores were sleeping under the arcades along the front of Anzani's shops. (II.7.11)
Decoud goes against the prevailing wisdom (which says that Charles Gould is the most powerful man in Sulaco, natch) to say that the railway engineers and Nostromo are actually holding the reins. Do you think that's true?