The Old Curiosity Shop · Chapter
LXXI explained
Kit finds the grandfather in a state of grief and madness, mourning Nell's death.
What happens
Kit finds the grandfather in a state of grief and madness, mourning Nell's death. The old man speaks to her clothes and shoes, reliving their journey. Mr. Garland, the schoolmaster, and the bachelor arrive. The grandfather refuses to leave Nell, and they discover she has died peacefully in her sleep. The schoolmaster reflects on the justice of Heaven.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Transcendence
Nell's death is portrayed as a peaceful, angelic transcendence, with the schoolmaster affirming Heaven's justice.
Innocence vs. Corruption
Nell's pure, innocent nature is emphasized in death, untouched by the world's corruption.
Sacrifice and Devotion
The grandfather's obsessive devotion to Nell and his grief-stricken care for her belongings highlight sacrificial love.
Characters to notice
- Christopher Nubbles
Kit finds the grandfather and desperately asks for Nell, then witnesses her death.
- Nell Trent
Nell is discovered to have died in her sleep; her body is described as peaceful and beautiful.
- Mr. Trent
The grandfather is consumed by grief and madness, clutching Nell's belongings and refusing to accept her death.
- The Schoolmaster
The schoolmaster brings a lamp and later speaks of Heaven's justice over Nell's body.
- Abel Garland
Mr. Garland enters with the bachelor and the schoolmaster to comfort the grandfather.
Key passages
“She was dead. No sleep so beautiful and calm, so free from trace of pain, so fair to look upon. She seemed a creature fresh from the hand of God, and waiting for the breath of life; not one who had lived and suffered death.”
Nell's death is described as a serene and beautiful sleep, as if she were a newly created being untouched by suffering.
Highlights the theme of death as transcendence and the preservation of innocence.
“It is not on earth that Heaven's justice ends. Think what it is compared with the World to which her young spirit has winged its early flight, and say, if one deliberate wish expressed in solemn terms above this bed could call her back to life, which of us would utter it!”
The schoolmaster asserts that true justice is found in Heaven, not on earth, and that no one would wish to bring Nell back from her blessed afterlife.
Emphasizes the theme of death and transcendence and the moral lesson of the chapter.