Christopher Booker is a scholar who wrote that every story falls into one of seven basic plot structures: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. Shmoop explores which of these structures fits this story like Cinderella’s slipper.
Plot Type : Tragedy
Anticipation Stage
You could say that we as readers kind of experience the anticipation stage right along with Nostromo, since we have to wait a good long while for him to emerge as a central character. This treatment of Nostromo mirrors the way other characters perceive him; he's useful to their businesses and safety—indispensible, even—but, at the end of the day, they really just see him as a man-for-hire rather than a central player in their lives and dealings.
When we finally become privy to Nostromo's thoughts and desires, we learn that he wants, more than anything, to live on easy street.
Dream Stage
During the Monterist uprising, Nostromo is asked to protect the Goulds' silver supply by getting it out of town. He's annoyed by this mission, since the risk to him is much higher than the likely reward (to the Goulds or him). Mind you, he's not afraid of dying so much as failing, which would sully his reputation. That said, he goes all in on the effort, hoping that a win here will finally result in a bump up in his status (both in terms of cold, hard cash and status).
Even though there are a few complications, he does save the silver. However, the Goulds don't exactly know that he saved it; they think it's at the bottom of the harbor. Nostromo just sort of lets the Goulds keeping on thinking that… and decides to keep the treasure for himself.
Frustration Stage
Holding on to the silver in secret isn't easy, though. First of all, he can't access it all at once, or people will wonder how he suddenly got rich. So, he draws on the supply slowly, pretending to have earned the money trading up and down the coast.
Secondly, the O.S.N. decides to build a lighthouse on the Great Isabel (where the silver is hidden), which means someone working at the lighthouse could find it accidentally. To prevent this from happening, he makes sure that some friends of his, the Violas, are installed as the lighthouse's caretakers/operators. Quick thinking, Nostromo.
Nightmare Stage
To make sure his frequent visits to the Great Isabel seem legit, he finally proposes to Linda Viola (who he had been expected to marry for some time), even though he has the hots for her younger sister, Giselle. Then he decides to have his cake (and silver) and eat it too (the cake, not the silver), striking up a romance with Giselle. Despite juggling these two ladies at once, his main obsession remains protecting the silver.
Destruction or Death Wish Stage
Nostromo is prowling around the island one night when Giorgio Viola shoots him, thinking that Nostromo is a different man trying to sneak in to see Giselle. The big fat irony? Nostromo wasn't even trying to visit Giselle; he was visiting his One True Love: the silver.