With Nancy, Dickens provides us answer. Nancy, the harlot, might be perceived as a weak character but something about her emerges strong and indelible. She is like Laura in the Glass Menagerie, who appears to be the weakest character only to materialize as one with superior strength. Nancy makes the greatest sacrifice yet she does give herself enough credit. She is convinced her fate is sealed. When the gentleman at London Bridge offers her any help, she refuses, stating she is "chained to my own life. I loathe and hate it now, but I cannot leave it" (Dickens 406). Nancy buys into the belief that she cannot change but this does not prevent her from making moral decisions. She accepts the concept that people cannot rise above their environment while she masterfully illustrates it is not true. Her sacrifice remains the true testament to this. Watt writes Nancy challenges the view of "once a harlot, always a harlot" through her gift to Oliver. She "dies in the act of saving, not in the act of destroying or corrupting. Her death also brings about the defeat of Bill and Fagin, so has a power in its passivity" (Watt). Nancy overcomes what she perceives to be her limits and actually rises above the moral boundaries of many good people in the novel. Dickens gives readers Nancy to project not only the limitations but also the capabilities of man. Nancy commits one of the most dignified acts of compassion in literature when she risks her life in an attempt to help Oliver. This cannot be denied; the act is good. Readers are left with the reality that Nancy was...
In addition, readers must also attempt to answer the question who, if not Nancy, in the novel would have committed such an act. The contrast is palpable and it accomplishes the task of causing readers to question the absolutes associated with environment.
Nancy is a paragon of decency in Oliver Twist and it is only fitting that Dickens select a harlot and thief to make his point about society. While it is easy to judge people by their past and their environment, it is impossible to form an accurate opinion of them this way. In the end, people are responsible for their own behavior and while Nancy should have never cared for Oliver, she did. Compassion knows no bounds. Nancy is a human being and therefore, capable of love and compassion. We see that she loves Sikes and we also know she has a deep fondness for Oliver. In fact, she is Oliver's salvation. Her sacrifice allowed him the opportunity to live in a healthy, happy home. We could argue Nancy sees youth and innocence in Oliver and desperately wants him to have a better life than she did under the hand of Fagin. She might have known it was too late for her but she believed Oliver could have more. She loses her life but she triumphs in the end -- over Fagin, evil, and the never-ending judging eye of society.
Works Cited
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. New Jersey: Watermill Press. 1983.
Watt, George. "Nancy." The "Fallen Woman" in the Nineteenth Century English Novel. Gale 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Feb. 2010.
