Nostromo & Suloco

[clovis-man]

I was browsing at Friends of the Library today and came across a copy of Joseph Conrad's Nostromo. I was interested to find that the title is the name of the protagonist and Suloco is the name of the town in the fictional South American country in which the story takes place.

I should have know that even Wikipedia was well aware of the connection:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulaco_(spaceship)

My question is: Why were the names chosen in the first place (aside from the obvious "company as villain") and what other Alien series names are drawn from Conrad's work & why?

 

[Dave]

I suspect that Ridley Scott is a Joseph Conrad fan, having also made the film based on “The Duel”. 'Nostromo' also hints at the theme of the 'capitalist exploitation' by the company. In "Alien", Dallas orders them to investigate using a landing module named 'Narcissus', a reference to the Joseph Conrad novel, published in 1897, "The Nigger of the Narcissus." Once set, the idea of using Conrad novels as a source for the spaceship name 'Sulaco' in "Aliens" would be convenient and gives continuity between two very different films.

 

[clovis-man]

Now why didn't I see that? And NOTN is a Conrad tale that I've actually read. Any other Conrad inferences? I don't think I noted any vessels named after the Patna, the ship from Lord Jim or the Roi des Belges from Heart of Darkness.

 

[Rodders]

I will apologies in advance, as i will be posting photos of relevent models in other sections. . I saw these on E/Bay and thought i'd post some photos of some Wooden, Hand Made desktop models. These ones are from Alien and i thought that they looked pretty cool.

 

[clovis-man]

I will apologies in advance, as i will be posting photos of relevent models in other sections. . I saw these on E/Bay and thought i'd post some photos of some Wooden, Hand Made desktop models. These ones are from Alien and i thought that they looked pretty cool.

Looks more like plastic with a wooden base. There once was a plastic kit model that can sometimes be found for sale, if you're willing to pay the asking price:

Halcyon Alien 3 USS Sulaco Model Kit HAL12 Aliens - eBay (item 310185451958 end time Dec-09-09 15:15:11 PST)

 

[Starbeast]

The NOSTROMO is one of my favorite space ships of all time.​

 

[clovis-man]

What a labor of love that had to be. The thing is big enough to need a garage, storage unit or a shipping container to keep it out of the weather. The question always comes up: Why didn't they do that? But I've seen full size mock-ups of historic aircraft at the Chino "Planes of Fame" museum that have been left to the elements. I guess there's just so much money and interest in such things.

Not to nit pick, but, based on the foregoing discussion, wouldn't this craft be the "Narcissus"? Haven't watched the film in a while. Maybe it's time.

 

[Toby Frost]

IIRC, the Narcissus is the escape vessel used by Ripley at the very end. And it's always time to watch Alien!

 

[TheTomG]

..it's always time to watch Alien!

Brilliantly said, sir!

 

[Jacob Larch]

Agree entirely. Trying to find time to go through the series again!

 

[ghost8772]

IIRC The Nostromo was the tug towing a refining facility. they detatched to investigate the planet. Also thought it looked a lot like the ship used to explore the planet in Prometheus.

Narcissus being a name in a Conrad novel I didn't know. However I couldn't help but point out that is the name from greek mythology, guy who fell totally and completely in love with his own reflection.

Since Conrad had apparently made the names for the major ships then its possible the escape craft was from his book, but personally, I still think the idea of "I love myself more than anything else" being tagged to an escape vehicle fits a bit more closely.