Nicholas Nickleby

Content Warning: This section references child abuse and suicide.

Like most of Dickens’s novels, Nicholas Nickleby is concerned with the ways in which society is unjust; it is also characteristic of Dickens’s work in that its characters ultimately receive what they deserve, whether punishment or reward. The novel resolves this apparent paradox by suggesting that kindness and generosity spark similar goodwill in others, creating a network of individuals committed to justice. By contrast, cruelty and selfishness are isolating, leaving one alone to face the consequences of one’s actions.

Dickens depicts injustice and corruption as pervasive in the English economy and government. Businessmen like Ralph make their money through a variety of underhanded tactics that include predatory lending and gaming the market. Thanks to their political connections, they rarely face consequences for such behavior; the debate surrounding the muffin company demonstrates that the government is happy to throw its weight behind corrupt economic endeavors. It seems likely that the politicians involved hope to profit themselves, but the episode also serves them in another way. The matter itself is trivial, but it is a useful distraction, something lawmakers can point to as a success that proves their worthiness to govern. Constituents aren’t always fooled by such tricks: Nicholas witnesses a member of Parliament being confronted about his broken campaign promises. However, the MP feels no remorse for letting down the people who voted him into power. This confrontation reveals that the government is a farce. Not only do lawmakers fail to defend the best interests of citizens, but there is no mechanism for holding them accountable for their corruption and incompetence. Meanwhile, systemic problems—poverty, abuse, etc.—go unaddressed.

In lieu of institutional justice, Dickens believes in the justice of the universe—or at least of honest and well-intentioned individuals. Nicholas is victimized by external forces, but his goodness, strong work ethic, and upstanding values ultimately prevail. Beyond simple chance, the mechanism for this is often the reciprocal nature of goodwill: Because Nicholas is good, he receives goodness from others. Mr. Crummles, for example, hires Nicholas to be part of his theater troupe without really knowing him. This gives Nicholas a new home and a chance to start over financially. Just as importantly, it gives him newfound confidence in himself and in the spirit of community. The pattern repeats when Nicholas meets Charles Cheeryble. As his name implies, Mr. Cheeryble is cheery, generous, and good. Like Mr. Crummles, he gives Nicholas a stable job and a lovely cottage to rent based on his sense that Nicholas is a good person. This kind of individual justice is limited in scope, but Dickens suggests that it can have a ripple effect, with Nicholas showing similar generosity once he is financially secure.

Similarly, characters who do bad things get their due in the end. The most dramatic example of this is Ralph, who has spent a lifetime manipulating and taking advantage of others. Just as Nicholas’s goodwill prompts reciprocal generosity, Ralph’s selfishness backfires. He inadvertently contributes to the death of his own son, and because he has driven everyone else who might have cared for him away, he has no source of comfort when forced to confront the worst of himself: The discovery sparks his suicide. Likewise, Sir Mulberry Hawk ends up in prison, Arthur Glide is murdered, and Mr. Squeers’s school is shut down amid his arrest. Ultimately, all the antagonists in this novel are punished for their injustice.