Nickolas Nickleby

Nickolas Nickleby is Charles Dickens's third novel which published in 1839.

Charles Dickens wrote Nickolas Nickleby while he was writing Oliver Twist. It was

known and published as ''The Life and Adventures of Nikolas Nickleby''. Also,

Charles Dickens known as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. Charles

Dickens have been a weekly journal writer for twenty years and he wrote more than

fourteen novels. Charles Dickens is an English writer and social critic. We can see the

reflection of Charles Dickens's criticism in most of his novels. Particularly, Nickolas

Nickleby. Regarding Charles Dickens's life, his father passed away when he was

young. Therefore, he was responsible for his family when his father died. Some of

Charles Dickens's novels reflect his own life and experience. Such as, Nickolas

Nickleby reflects Charles Dickens personality and experience.

''Nicholas Nickleby was Charles Dickens's third novel, started almost immediately on

completion of "The Pickwick Papers", and written alongside "Oliver Twist" until the

completion of the latter. The first serial part was published on 31st March 1838 and

the final "double number" on 30th September 1839. Several episodes in the novel

relate to visits that Dickens made during this period, so it is evident that he did not

have a fixed plan for the plot of the book before he started writing.'' John Welford

There are many characters in Nickolas Nickleby novel. Those characters

presented strongly and each character had a major role in Nickolas Nickleby story.

The most important characters of Nickleby family were four. First character is,

Nickolas Nickleby who was the hero of the novel. Nickolas Nickleby represents as a

young man who has no experience in life. Because his father died so he have to be
responsible, strong, and protective. Nickolas Nickleby inexperience and youth led him

to be emotional and sensitive. Second character is, Ralph Nickleby who is Nickolas

Nickleby's uncle. Ralph Nickleby was the story antagonist and he had many problems

and situations with his nephew Nickolas Nickleby. Also, Ralph Nickleby seems to be

not responsible for his brother's family and he seems to care just about money. Third

character is, Catherine Nickleby, she is the young sister of Nickolas Nickleby .

Catherine Nickleby was helping her brother in the story. Also, she was strong and

learned sewing to help her brother and her family. Fourth character is, Ms. Catherine

Nickleby who is the mother of Nickolas and Catherine. Ms. Catherine Nickleby was

stubborn and sometimes she could not deal with her children rightly. Also, she could

not see the true evil of her children. However, Ms. Catherine Nickleby seems

obtuseness in the story particularly with her two children.

In addition to that, Dame Sybil Thorndike explained the characters in Nickolas

Nickleby: ''To turn to a more pleasant subject, it may be right to say, that there are two

characters in this book which are drawn from life. It is remarkable that what we call

the world, which is so very credulous in what professes to be true, is most incredulous

in what professes to be imaginary; and that, while every day in real life, it will allow

in one man no blemishes, and in another no virtues, it will seldom admit a very

strongly-marked character, wither good and bad, in a fictitious narrative, to be within

the limits of probability.''

The plot of Nikolas Nickleby novel was complicated however; Charles

Dickens wrote and presents the story in third-person point of view. Therefore, the

readership will imagine the story easily since it is in the third point of view and from
other perspective. Also, Charles Dickens wrote the novel by using humorous language

and there was many complicated situation in the story. First, Charles Dickens tried to

support her mother and her sister after his father death. Then he turn to his uncle's

support and help however, her uncle was strict and gives no support to his brother's

family. After that, the situations that happened when Nickolas Nickleby's uncle gave

him the position an assistant in Dotheboys Hall school in Yorkshire. Indeed, all of

those smooth complicated situations happened to Nickolas Nickleby and that

situations happened in the story may reflect the athour's life and experience. Nickolas

Nickleby character in the novel shows the readership that the hero has no experience

in life because he is young orphan child. However; these difficulties happened to

Charles Dickens. For example, he was forced to leave school then later he was

working in factory. To sum up, the many different characters appeared in Nickolas

Nickleby shows the strong message of Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens used many

characters in Nickolas Nickleby novel. In my opinion, that tells the reader the

excellence of Charles Dickens in writing and at the same time this may reflect how

Charles Dickens's life was. David Perdue also explained Nickolas Nickleby

characters: ''Dickens characters are some of the most memorable in fiction. Often

these characters were based on people that he knew Wilkins Micawber and William

Dorrit (his father), Mrs. Nickleby (his mother).'' In analysing the first chapters,

actually the first three chapters of Nickolas Nickleby novel was focusing on Mrs.

Nickleby after his husband death. Then Charles Dickens began writing the sequence

of events particularly the adventures that Nickolas Nickleby did.

Charles Dickens's language in Nickolas Nickleby novel was humorous. Also, Charles

Dickens success and became the dominant pattern for the novel through most of the

Victorian period. Nickolas Nickleby language is reflecting how the Victorian period
was. Moreover, See Paul Schlicke said: ''Nickolas Nickleby relishes the diverse

possibilities of the form: melodrama, oppression, pantomime, romance; an intricate

plot, a sustaining myth of origins, a starling development of coincidence. The novel

under Dickens's management can take the strain of prolife rating modes, extreme

characterization, and episodic development – can sell itself, indeed, to an enthusiastic

public. The Victorian novel is not a single formal category but compounded of diverse

modes.''

The voice and tone changed for several times in Nickolas Nickleby novel. First, it was

serious tone of voice in Nickolas Nickleby novel. Second, the tone used is humorous

and predacious. Third, it's ridiculous and funny. For example, ''The white spoon''. In

Nickolas Nickleby novel Charles Dickens focussed more about the description of

environment and that reflects his persona or the voice that Charles Dickens used.

Also, Charles Dickens illustrates the whole novel by using a lot of imaginary and

metaphors. For example, ''The food is like sponge'' which means it is thirty,

disgusting, and unhealthy food. Moreover, Charles Dickens is rational and social

critic and that is the reason of most his work. Therefore, he believes is realism and he

is not idealistic. Charles Dickens's realism in Nickolas Nickleby shows us the great

intention and the demonstration about Charles Dickens's personality. Also, Nickolas

Nickleby novel shows us that Charles Dickens is perspective and showed us what he

think and feel. Indeed, Nickolas Nickleby novel is novel of development particularly

the education development. Indeed, Charles Dickens was reflecting his own

experience in life as an author and he was quoting himself.

Nickolas Nickleby novel reflects the society at that period of time however;

Charles Dickens seems to be critic. Also, Charles Dickens illustrated Ms. Squeers as

an elliptical person; he was saying something that does not believe in. In my point of
view, Charles Dickens treated some aspects in life in Nickolas Nickleby novel. For

example, he talked and addressed parents that do not care about their annoying

children. It is funny that children have been treated by the doctor however; doctor

actually would not do anything to treat him. This example shows how Nickolas

Nickleby novel was humorous and includes funny situations. Moreover, the life and

adventure of Nickolas Nickleby considered as the funnies novel of the nineteenth

century because Charles Dickens embody the character by funny situations happed to

him.

''This book provides perfect material of filming, since it is an illustrated, simplified

novel that film techniques shows at its best, the attitude of a cinema audience being

nearer to that of a reader than it is to that of an audience in a theatre …'' also she

added ''What a joy we have in seeing a tale knit as Nickolas Nickleby is, with each

episode, though apparently separate, being shaped into pattern. Surely, it is the very

picture of each one of our lives : every experience – disagreeable, tragic, beautiful –

helps to make character'' Dame Sybil Thorndike.

The whole novel reflects also the psychological effect of Charles Dickens.

Also, the life and adventures of Nickolas Nickleby reflect what he feel and think. One

such example is J. Hillis Miller's important phenomenological account of Dickens's

writing ''Dickens's work primarily not as the reflection of an age, nor as intricately

devised Dentean artifice, but as the expression of consciousness. Howeve, this process

is not merely passive and the works therefore not reliably to be explicated as the

unwilled expression of a given or pre-existing authorial pathology of set of

psychological factors. Rather, the work itself is to be seen as a process of

psychological self-making: in writing his work, Charles Dicken's can be seen

constructing himself in his psychological relation to the world.'' Evenmore, the

discourse of Chrles Dickens's novel was strong and humorous to criticize society. In

the kind of criticism envisage and practised by Leavis ''language was both the vehicle

of social critique and the unoptain promise of a world of complexity, concentration

and immediacy which might replace the debased and abstract … society''

In conclusion, the life and adventure of Nickolas Nickleby was one of the

greatest and funniest novels in the eighteenth century for many reasons. First, Charles

Dickens tone of voice was humorous and funny. Second, hundreds of characters

provided in the novel. Third, the wide imagination of Charles Dickens. However, the

life and adventures of Nickolas Nickleby illustrates Charles Dickens life and

experience. Also, one of the most important aspects of Charles dickens's writing that

he cares about the quality and degree of the readership. For example, the life and

adventures of Nickolas Nickleby has many different images of an orphan child.

Therefore, it would be suitable for children audience to read. There was sequence of

event that happened in many chapters and with hundreds of characters. Dame Sybil

Thorndike said: ''No drama is complete without this wonderful feeling of fulfilment if

there is no human soul who is our own dear companion, who unsatisfied who we are.

Dickens more than any other author seems to recognize the deep needs of human

beings and gives a proper value to those needs. Madeline Bray is the heroine we all

inwardly crave for courageous, beautiful, self- sacrificing, going through untold

agonies of mind, as a heroine must if she is to keep our respect as the real romantic of

our dreams.'' Finally, Charles Dickens Nickolas Nickleby novel criticized the society,

particularly, the life and adventures of Nickolas Nickleby. Charles Dickens criticised

the whole society of the Victorian period. For example, women in the Victorian
period were considered to be lower than men. Therefore, the life and adventure of

Nikolas Nickleby novel shows the reader how the Victorian period was and the story

treated some aspects.

References:

Dickens, Charles. Nickolas Nickleby. London: Oxford University Press, 1870. Print.

Connor, Steven. Charles Dickens. London and New York: Longman, 1996. Print.

Jordan, John. The Cambridge Companion to Charles Dickens. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2009. Print.

John L. Sutherland, See. Victorian Novelist and Publishers. University of Chicago,

1976. Print.

Paul Schlicke, See. Dickens and Popular Entertainment. 1985.