Discuss the figure of the orphan as portrayed by Defoe in “Moll Flanders” , Fielding in “Joseph Andrews“, and Dickens in “Oliver Twist”. Although in all three novels the hero/heroine is an orphan or at least a foundling, yet the different social statuses in which the orphans find themselves, their genders, as well as the level to which the heroes realize that they are orphans, significantly affect their behavior. Dickens’s Oliver Twist possibly starts off lower than any of the three orphans. He knows no love from when he is born, and suffers immense hardships throughout the novel. This clearly states itself upon his character; Oliver is a weak child who cries a lot and at times almost seems effeminate, he clearly lacks the love of a mother. Defoe’s Moll Flanders on the other hand realizes that she is an orphan, yet she is taken great care of by her adopted mother and the family she resides with. This makes her willful, and with a certain power which, in opposition to Oliver, seems at times quite masculine. Finally Fielding’s Joseph Andrews, is very slightly affected by the fact that he is a foundling until the end of the novel. Joseph simply does not realize he is a foundling till the end, and grows up believing that Pamela’s parents are his true parents. Therefore his character and actions were not significantly affected by this fact, and he is simply portrayed as a valiant and chaste young man.
Its important to analyze passage from the text to understand the behavior and psychology.
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