Discuss how imagination helps Nicholas to face the unfair treatment of his aunt, and support your answer with reference.

Imagination is one of the story's major themes. Alongside mischief, Nicholas shows a great capacity for imagination. Although Nicholas uses his imagination in order to devise plans to carry out mischief, the theme comes up even more explicitly when Nicholas enters the lumber room. Long prevented from seeing the treasures that lie within, Nicholas imagines the otherworldly potential of the restricted room, which "[comes] up to his expectations." Inside, he finds a fire-screen tapestry that depicts a scene frozen in time. A bow huntsman and his dogs stand before a dying deer, and Nicholas imagines what will happen if the huntsman does not notice the wolves stalking toward him from the woods. He also finds a book of bird illustrations. When he hears his aunt shrieking his name, Nicholas is busy "assigning a life history" to a mandarin duck.

Nicholas also uses his imagination once he is outside and tasked with helping his aunt escape the rain-water tank. Thinking quickly, he invents an excuse not to help or trust her, pretending she is the Devil. At the end of the story, when everyone sits in miserable silence at the tea table, Nicholas continues to use his imagination to his benefit, thinking back to the tapestry scene and imagining alternative outcomes for the huntsman and his dogs.