Sykes is obviously jealous of Oliver and hates it when Nancy gives any kind of attention to Oliver. Evidence of this is clear Nancy receives a beating from Sykes each time she tries to defend Oliver from Sykes.
Sykes shows no feeling for those around him and he is thoroughly bad, in the convention of the time, to carry out the cruel murder of Nancy. Sykes alone is capable of beating to death the woman who loves him, ” … seized a heavy club and struck her down. ” This act of violence shows that he is selfish and shows no help or sympathy to others.
Although he shows no feeling towards others Sykes suffers very badly after Nancy’s death as he keeps seeing Nancy’s eyes, “The eyes again! ” he cries in an unearthly screech. He finally comes to his death on the rooftops with people chanting him. This gives the novel more anticipation and suspense to make it compelling and interesting. When Dickens uses the word unearthly this shows that it is not normal and that people hated Bill Sykes and would be happy with his death.
Dickens does make us feel some sympathy for Sykes : his desperate flight across the rooftops, pursued by the baying crowd, is a typical dramatic Dickens. I have come to the conclusion that Sykes is a criminal and an evil man who represents the brutality of life in London at this time in the 19th Century. Yet, Dickens also gives him little human touches and so reminds us that perhaps the harsh environment of London has made Bill Sykes this way. Those human touches make him more believable to the reader.
