Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Nicholas wakes up late the next morning, and Squeers tells him he doesn’t have time to wash. Mrs. Squeers looks for a spoon to use to give the students brimstone (a kind of sulfur) and treacle (molasses). It’s a kind of cure-all remedy that the Squeerses use in part to prevent illness in the students but also because the concoction is so foul that it makes the boys lose their appetites. That way, the Squeerses don’t have to feed them as much. Squeers and Nicholas go to the schoolhouse, which is in disrepair. The students are not in much better shape. They are skinny, and their eyes are full of despair. Their faces look like those of old men. Squeers informs the boys he’s just returned from London, and two or three boys let out feigned cheers that are barely louder than sighs.

Squeers reads letters from the parents of the boys and confiscates any money contained in those letters. He calls a boy to the front of the class whose parents failed to pay the full amount. He scolds the boy for his warts and then beats him with a cane until his (Squeers’s) arm is tired. The Squeers also take the clothing of the new arrivals to give to their son. Squeers informs Nicholas that they teach through experience. For example, to teach the word horse, they’ll first teach the definition of the word and then send a boy to clean the stable.

Nicholas is dispirited by what he sees, and he hates the idea that he’s an accomplice to it. But he redoubles his resolution to make the best of the situation, lest Ralph abandon his mother and sister. He’s worried that, since his uncle Ralph deceived him, that he might do something similar to Kate and send her to a horrible boarding school. Eventually, though, Nicholas thinks that Ralph has some special dislike for him, which will hopefully mean that Kate won’t be subjected to the same kind of mistreatment. Nicholas writes a letter to his mother, Mrs. Nickleby, informing her that he arrived at the school. He tries to make the letter sound as cheerful as he can.

After lessons, Nicholas sits by the fire in the oven. Smike approaches timidly. When Nicholas notices him, Smike recoils as if he is expecting a blow. Nicholas tries to reassure Smike that he’s not going to hit him. Smike then recalls the boy who died at the school. He says that as the boy lay in bed dying, he envisioned the faces of his friends and family all around him. Smike wonders who he would envision if he were dying. He doesn’t remember home or anyone there. He feels utterly alone.