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Chapter 55
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
Ralph and Arthur stand in the Brays’ house after Mr. Bray has died and Nicholas and Kate have left with Madeline. They can’t believe what happened. Arthur is afraid that Ralph will blame him for what happened, but Ralph says Mr. Bray is to blame. If he could have remained alive for just a little more time, their plan would have been successful. Ralph and Arthur then return to Arthur’s home. They ring the bell, but there’s no answer. Arthur assumes it’s simply because Peg, his servant who is hard of hearing, doesn’t hear the bell.
Arthur’s fear that Ralph will blame him for what happened shows Arthur’s fear-prone disposition. Ralph and Arthur again show how deep their self-interest goes. Instead of feeling sympathy toward Mr. Bray, who just died, or Madeline, who just lost her father, they curse Mr. Bray for dying and for how his death got in the way of them carrying out their plan to exploit his daughter.
Themes
Literary Devices
Arthur and Ralph continue to ring and ring the bell. Eventually, they force their way inside. Peg is nowhere to be seen. When Arthur investigates further, he finds that almost all of his papers are missing. He thinks that Peg must have stolen them. Arthur tells Ralph that they can’t go to the police about the robbery because his papers will implicate him in crimes. Arthur says he’s ruined. Ralph returns to his house. He gives Newman a letter summoning Squeers to his (Ralph’s) office.
Ralph’s employee, Newman, decides to act against Ralph because Ralph alienates Newman by underpaying him and treating him poorly. Arthur seems to have done the same to Peg. While it remains to be seen what Peg’s motives were for stealing the documents, it’s clear that Arthur’s poor treatment of Peg has led her to feel no loyalty toward Arthur and be willing to betray him.
Themes
When Squeers arrives at Ralph’s office, Ralph sends Newman to lunch. Ralph tells Squeers he has reason to be suspicious of Newman. Squeers brings up his issues with the scheme they have undertaken. He says he’s taken an enormous risk by lying to say that Smike is Mr. Snawley’s son. Ralph says only Mr. Snawley is lying. Everything that Ralph and Squeers have said is true in one way or another, and the only out-and-out lie is the one Mr. Snawley tells when he says that Smike is his son. Besides, Ralph says, all of the other elements of Mr. Snawley’s story are true, so it’s unlikely that they’ll get caught.
This passage reveals for certain that Squeers, Ralph, and Mr. Snawley have been lying when they say that Smike is Mr. Snawley’s son. Ralph further shows his tendency to overlook and not care about the concerns of others, as he tries to convince Squeers that his concerns are unfounded when Squeers begins to have doubts. That underlines the fact that Ralph doesn’t care about others, even those who are ostensibly his allies.
Themes
Ralph then tells Squeers that there’s another pressing matter. He explains the story of Arthur and Madeline and says that Nicholas interfered with that marriage, which caused Ralph to lose money. He says that Arthur’s servant Peg then stole a paper from Arthur showing that Madeline is the rightful heir to a small fortune. Ralph says that if Nicholas comes into that money by marrying Madeline, then he’ll become wealthy, which will make him a much more powerful adversary to Squeers and Ralph. Ralph tells Squeers that he’ll pay him to steal the paper from Peg and bring it to Ralph. Squeers initially says no, but Ralph continues to press him, and eventually, Squeers agrees to do it.
Ralph and Squeers find themselves in this situation because Arthur mistreated Peg, which, at the very least, led Peg to feel no loyalty to Arthur. To try and rectify the situation, Ralph essentially hires Squeers to do his bidding, turning Squeers into his employee. Like Arthur, Ralph has a history of mistreating his employees in a way that leads them to turn on him later, as is the case with Newman and, possibly, Brooker. It remains to be seen whether Ralph’s relationship with Squeers will follow a similar pattern.
Themes
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