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Chapter 44
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Nicholas Nickleby, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Greed and Selfishness
Power and Abuse
Altruism and Humility
Family and Loyalty
Injustice, Complicity, and Moral Integrity
Summary
Analysis
John and Matilda come to tea at the Nicklebys’ house before they leave London. Mrs. Nickleby is a little miffed by the visit because she thinks that it’s improper for them to come to tea before she has called on Matilda at home. Nicholas reassures her that it’s fine. The group sits together until 11 or 12 at night. John and Matilda move to leave, saying that it’s late. As they get ready to go, there’s a knock on the door. No one knows who would be calling at that hour.
Mrs. Nickleby’s idea that she should call on Matilda before Matilda visits her house seems to stem from customs that pertain to her previous socioeconomic status but are less important now. With that in mind, the novel suggests that the social decorum that goes along with wealth can often be exclusionary and unnecessary.
Themes
Ralph enters accompanied by Squeers and Mr. Snawley. John steps between Ralph and Nicholas to stop either from advancing toward the other. Ralph announces that they have found Smike’s father. It’s Mr. Snawley, and he wants to take custody of Smike. Ralph explains that Mr. Snawley had Smike with his first wife. The two separated, and Smike went to live with his mother. When Smike was a year old, his mother told Mr. Snawley that he (Smike) had died to try and wound Mr. Snawley. The mother then sent Smike to Dotheboys Hall. She paid for the first few years, but eventually, money ran out. She confessed all of this in a letter she sent from her deathbed, which Mr. Snawley just received a few days ago.
The novel has previously shown the schemes and strategic maneuvers of several characters, and those plans have been used both for ill and for good. In this case, it remains to be seen whether the claim about Smike’s parentage is a scheme cooked up by Ralph, Squeers, and Mr. Snawley or whether it’s true. Either way, it’s clear that they’re not presenting the information to Smike and the Nicklebys out of a sense of what is in Smike’s best interests. Instead, they are trying to use the information to give them a legal basis to kidnap Smike again.
Themes
No one can believe what they’re hearing, but Ralph produces documents to prove what he says is true. After examining them, Nicholas is dismayed to see that they seem to be authentic. Smike clings to Nicholas and says he doesn’t want to leave. Nicholas tells Ralph and Mr. Snawley that Smike is free to make his own choices, and he has chosen to stay with the Nicklebys. Mr. Snawley says that Smike is ungrateful and unlovable. Squeers adds that Smike has never loved anyone. Ralph says that he never expected Nicholas to give up Smike that night. In time, though, Ralph says, he plans to break Nicholas’s spirit.
The documents Ralph produces seem to bolster their case. Regardless of whether that information is true or fraudulent, it’s clear that Ralph, Squeers, and Mr. Snawley have come prepared. Squeers’s assertion that Smike has never loved anyone is patently false, as Smike loves Nicholas and the Nickleby family in general. With that in mind, Squeers’s statement says more about him than it does about Smike. In essence, without meaning to, Squeers makes it clear once more that he never gave Smike a reason to care for anyone at Dotheboys Hall because the Squeerses relentlessly abused him.
Themes
Literary Devices
