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Chapter 57
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
Nicholas and Smike travel to Devonshire. They find lodging in a small farmhouse. Nicholas excitedly points out places that he remembers from growing up in the area. He shows Smike his father’s (Nicholas Sr.’s) grave in a churchyard. He says his father wanted to be buried there because, one day, Kate had gone missing for close to an hour. Nicholas Sr. found her asleep under a tree. As he took her in his arms, he said he would like to be buried under that tree, which is where his grave now lies. Smike tells Nicholas that he would like to be buried as close to that same spot as possible.
Smike’s request to be buried under the tree shows two things. First, Smike asks to be buried near Nicholas Sr., implicitly asking to be accepted into the Nickleby family not just temporarily but in perpetuity, including for future generations of the family who may visit both Smike and Nicholas Sr.’s grave. Second, Smike is more drawn to that spot because of its connection to Kate than to Nicholas Sr., suggesting again that Smike has feelings for Kate.
Themes
Within a fortnight, Smike’s condition has rapidly deteriorated. One night, Nicholas carries him outside to see the sunset. Smike falls asleep and wakes up screaming five minutes later. Nicholas asks what’s wrong, and Smike says he saw the man who first took him to Dotheboys Hall hiding behind a tree. Nicholas says he’s sure that’s not true and tries to soothe Smike, but Smike insists he saw the man and that he would know that man anywhere. Nicholas leaves Smike in the care of the people who own the farmhouse to investigate. He searches everywhere but finds no trace of the man Smike claims to have seen. Nicholas is satisfied in his belief that the man isn’t actually there and soothes Smike’s nerves. Smike calms down, but he still insists he saw the man.
Smike’s sense that he saw the man who initially brought him to Dotheboys Hall could mean a few things. It could mean that Smike, on the edge of death, is revisiting his memories, and they have begun to feel as real as the present. It could mean also that Smike is so close to death that he has begun hallucinating. Or, it could mean that the man is actually present, and Nicholas is wrong to doubt Smike. The final possibility, if true, would raise the question of why that man would appear in Devonshire at that moment.
Themes
Literary Devices
On another night, Smike falls asleep on the couch. He tells Nicholas that he’s not afraid to die. But he wants to tell Nicholas a secret. Smike says that he’s in love with Kate. He would go to his room when Frank visited because he couldn’t bear to see Frank and Kate together. Smike says he has a lock of Kate’s hair that he wears on a necklace. He asks Nicholas to remove that necklace so no one else sees it and then place it within Smike’s coffin before he is buried. Nicholas says he will. Smike says he’s happy and drifts into a light sleep. When he awakens, he says that he sees men and women in beautiful gardens. He says that he’s looking at Eden, and then he dies.
Smike finally confesses the love he feels for Kate and clarifies that he couldn’t bear to see Kate and Frank together. Smike’s final scene calls back to when Nicholas initially met Smike at Dotheboys Hall. Smike felt completely alone, and he told Nicholas that he was afraid that when he died, there would be no one near his bedside because he had no family and no friends. Now, though, Smike is not alone. Instead, he is with Nicholas, who has become both a friend and a kind of brother to Smike.
Themes
