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Chapter 41
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 meets John and Matilda for dinner. John and Matilda suggested this time to meet because Fanny will be occupied with Squeers, and they know Nicholas won’t want to run into either of them. John and Nicholas share a laugh about the fight they got into when they first met. Nicholas says that though they’ve only shared food twice and only met three times, he feels like John and Matilda are old friends. John and Matilda say they feel the same and that they’ve been looking forward to seeing Nicholas. Nicholas thanks John for helping Smike escape from Squeers, and John says it was nothing. More than that, he put Squeers off of Smike’s scent. It was a delight, John says, to watch Squeers scramble through the mud and hop fences with no hope of catching Smike.
This dinner shows again that Nicholas has an untiring ability to make friends. The conversation about the fight between Nicholas and John during their first meeting makes that even more clear, as Nicholas has been able to turn that unpromising first meeting into a warm friendship characterized by mutual loyalty. Everywhere that Nicholas goes, he is able to form lasting and meaningful friendships, and those friendships end up helping him in the most difficult situations, including when Squeers kidnaps Smike.
Themes
Matilda and John say they can’t stand Squeers. Matilda says she thinks Fanny had been genuinely fond of Nicholas. The three of them talk about the unlikelihood that Fanny will be married anytime soon. There was a time, Matilda says, when she truly believed that Nicholas and Fanny would be engaged. Just then, Fanny and Squeers pop up from behind them. Fanny curses them for speaking ill of her and accuses Matilda of double-crossing her. Matilda says it’s not her fault that eavesdroppers always happen to hear others speaking ill of them.
Matilda’s comment that eavesdroppers always hear others speaking ill of them is a witty retort after she’s caught talking about Fanny behind her back. More than that, though, the comment also points to the novel’s themes about the results of immoral actions. In essence, Matilda argues that because eavesdroppers are doing something illicit, they’ll be punished by hearing bad things said about them. The novel argues something similar by contending that those who rely on selfishness, greed, and corruption will ultimately be punished in one way or another for their misdeeds.
Themes
Matilda and Fanny get into a shouting match. Squeers joins in and accuses John of helping Smike escape. John says it’s true. He helped Smike escape, and he would do it again if he had the chance. And if there were 20 runaway boys from Dotheboys Hall, John would help all 20 of them. Squeers can’t believe what he's hearing. He says that Nicholas better be careful, lest Smike’s father track down Smike and send him back to Dotheboys Hall. Nicholas says he’s not worried about it. Squeers and Fanny leave. When they disappear from sight, Fanny breaks down sobbing. John returns his attention to the meal at hand and says it's time to get the night started in earnest.
John displays the same kind of moral integrity that Nicholas displays elsewhere. John is willing to stand up for what he believes in and to maintain his convictions when Squeers challenges him. He also brushes off the confrontation as soon as Fanny and Squeers leave. In that sense, the novel suggests that John and Nicholas are drawn to each other as friends not only because they enjoy each other’s company, but because they are both willing to stand up for what they believe is right.
Themes
