Injustice, Complicity, and Moral Integrity Theme Analysis

When Nicholas arrives at Dotheboys Hall and witnesses the rampant abuse that occurs at the school, he curses his uncle Ralph for making him complicit in the evil occurring there. Even though Nicholas doesn’t commit the abuse himself, his proximity to it—and his position as an employee of the school—weighs on his conscience. That feeling of guilt, borne of a sense of complicity, drives Nicholas to flee from Dotheboys Hall with Smike.

Similarly, at the end of the novel, Nicholas, Kate, and Mrs. Nickleby renounce Ralph’s fortune even though they are Ralph’s rightful heirs. They give up any claim to that money because they believe Ralph accrued it through “evil deeds.” Instead of taking that fortune and using it for their own benefit or even for the benefit of others, they let the money pass to the state. With that in mind, the novel contends that one can be guilty of moral wrongdoing even if one does not commit that wrongdoing oneself. Instead, one becomes complicit in wrongdoing if one sees it and does nothing to stop it or if one materially benefits from it. To be truly just, then, one cannot simply decry injustice or avoid committing it oneself; true moral integrity requires one to cut ties of complicity and renounce any involvement in moral wrongdoing or profits gained from that wrongdoing.