Yeah, I definitely think that's the best way that it can be done.
Great question!
Absolutely. A story is simply not a story without a transformation - a transformation of not just the reader, but also of the main character. When Nola was younger, she grew up living a life of a nomad and, to be honest, not the best person. She lived off of what she could steal, and would occasionally lie to cover her identity or anything else she may need to hide. Although she would feel guilty about those things, her main goal in life was to just "survive".
It's probably easy to see where I'm going with this, haha. I've already begun the transformation of Nola and her morals, especially by her sticking around the Resistance members that firmly believe in morals, the Scarlet Man, etc. As Nola gets more of a grip of what they believe, she starts to believe it as well. And that will eventually transform Nola.