Why is Nancy such an important character in the novel Oliver Twist?

Why is Nancy such an important character in the novel Oliver Twist?

Nancy is a character whose personality is two sided, despite the fact

that Nancy is a prostitute. Readers like Nancy even despite her faults

because she has two personalities. There are many reasons why Nancy is

such an important character in the novel. One of the reasons is that

when you see her, she is described as if she wears a lot of make-up,

has a lot of hair and that she doesn’t keep her self organized (tidy).

At that time, this wasn’t respectable for a young woman. This gives

the reader the impression that Nancy is a prostitute, who is just a

low life woman trying to make a living.

The connection between Oliver and Nancy in the novel truly shows how

Nancy’s personality is. E.g. Most people would recognize Nancy for who

she is, by her looks most likely. But Oliver doesn’t see Nancy this

way, he sees her as a friend and a nice lady. This tells you that

Oliver & Nancy are both innocent and because of this innocence, Nancy

wants to help Oliver.

As the story starts to develop, you get the idea that Nancy has

another more caring side to her. This side is shown on page 142 where

Nancy says to Bill Sikes, that he’ll have to go through Nancy before

he can attack Oliver with the dog, Bullseye. This shows that she cares

for Oliver and that she doesn’t want Oliver to get hurt in any way.

Also an alternative way to tell that Nancy has a better side to her,

is when she says to Bill Sikes that he can smash her head against the

wall, but she won’t let him touch Oliver. At this point in the novel,

Nancy feels a great bond with Oliver, in which she cares for him and

doesn’t want him to get hurt.

Dickens in this novel builds up sympathy fo...

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...is own way, by provoking Sikes to kill Nancy.

Just before Nancy is killed she is happy to see him because Dickens

writes “It is you, Bill” said the girl with the expression of pleasure

when he returns. This proves that she has two sides to her character

because she spoke to Rose Maylie, she does not betray her friends.

Nancy always tries to find the best way, and that also meant making

sure she doesn’t betray her friends.

This makes Nancy probably the most realistic character out of them

all, mainly because of her two sided personality and because she

develops the story and how she cares for Oliver.

Because Nancy’s character is not too bad and not too good, it makes

the story more realistic and believable. She is one of the characters

who like Oliver and the only one with a true personality and in a way

the only character who expresses her feelings.