At the beginning of Chapter 48, there is constant imagery of light flooding into dark spaces.\u00a0 Sikes experiences this the morning after he murders Nancy.\u00a0 Dickens says, \u201cThe sun \u2013 the bright sun, that brings back, not light alone, but new life, and hope, and freshness to man \u2013 burst upon the crowded city in clear and radiant glory\u201d (Chapter 48).\u00a0 This statement harshly juxtaposes the events of the night before.\u00a0Life has just been taken, while the next morning\u2019s sun brings thoughts of new life in the next chapter.\u00a0 Sikes makes the direct link back to Nancy by saying that Nancy would have opened the curtains to let the light in if she was still alive.<\/p>\n
This opening passage seems to indicate divine intervention the morning after an evil event occurs. Having such strong natural imagery or descriptions of light often suggest the presence of religion or God. \u00a0This connection can also be drawn through words like \u201cglory\u201d.\u00a0This passage also states, \u201cthrough cathedral dome and rotten crevice, it shed its equal ray\u201d (Chapter 48).\u00a0 This comparison creates a connection between God and Sikes\u2019s dirty apartment.\u00a0 It creates parallels with Nancy\u2019s attack in the previous chapter as she was on her knees with Rose\u2019s handkerchief asking for God\u2019s mercy before Sikes killed her.\u00a0 The presence of light in the following chapter provides an example of religious justice.\u00a0 While mercy cannot be enacted to save Nancy\u2019s life, natural forces, like the sun, seem to torment Sikes in the wake of this event.\u00a0 Dickens provides this when he says, \u201c[Sikes] tried to shut it out, but it would stream in.\u00a0If the sight had been a ghastly one in the dull morning, what was it, now in all that brilliant light!\u201d (Chapter 48).\u00a0The sun continues to stream in, even as he tries to prevent it.\u00a0 The light also forces Sikes to face the events of the night before as the sight of a murdered Nancy in the light is much harsher than in the darkness.<\/p>\n
At this point in the novel, many troublesome characters avoid justice and retribution for their wrongdoings, especially those who have hurt Oliver.\u00a0 In this chapter, Sikes receives his own justice for what he\u2019s done, separate from the legal system in London.\u00a0 He\u2019s tormented in his apartment, but, even after he leaves, he can\u2019t find solace in any location in the city.\u00a0 Sikes seeks to hide in the shadows, which normally provide safety for the other criminals in the novel, but Sikes can\u2019t escape \u201cthe glare of the lamps of a stage-coach\u201d or the fire blazing in an apartment (Chapter 48).\u00a0 It seems fitting that, when the justice system in London fails, natural or religious forces work to torment Sikes instead.\u00a0 He cannot outrun the sun.\u00a0 Sikes\u2019s experiences in this chapter provide hope that the other villains in Oliver Twist <\/em>will receive some form of justice for their actions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the beginning of Chapter 48, there is constant imagery of light flooding into dark spaces.\u00a0 Sikes experiences this the morning after he murders Nancy.\u00a0 Dickens says, \u201cThe sun \u2013 the bright sun, that brings back, not light alone, but new life, and hope, and freshness to man \u2013 burst upon the crowded city in … Continue reading Justice Outside the Justice System<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3893,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[138877],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-2020"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3893"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}