Reflections on the Reliability of Moll Flanders

Image taken from http://www.fdungan.com/flanders.jpg

Daniel Defoe’s 1722 classic is a roller coaster ride through the life of Moll Flanders, narrated by Moll herself. Though Moll’s attempts to conceal her identity and that of others suggest that the tale that is to be told contains a great deal of truth, her reliability is the subject of much debate. There are three points that when viewed together form a cohesive unit arguing for the unreliability of Moll’s story. These are the role that the concealment of her identity, and that of others may have in her narrative of the tale; blaming the devil for luring her into stealing; and the ease of which she as a mother speaks of walking away from some of her children.

The issue of reliability is apparent at the onset of the novel where Moll states that because her “name is so well known in the records or registers at Newgate, and in the Old Bailey, and there are some things of such consequence still depending there, relating to [her] particular conduct,” she is unable to state her real name. This doesn’t necessarily indicate that all that will be written afterwards will be false, however, it does suggest that events will be presented in such a way that Moll’s identity won’t be in jeopardy of being discovered. This will include the bending of facts. Thus, reliability, though certainly not dismissible at this point, is questionable.

Once justification has been given for the concealment of identity: it is to be expected that certain facts may be altered or missing altogether. As a result of the need to cover up her identity, Moll had to cover up the identity of others. The novel is littered with pseudonyms–such as “Robin,” the elder brother,” “the banker,” etc–and the unnamed. If there was a way to verify her claims, it would have been hampered by this missing information.

The second point is the emergence of a strong religious conscience in which Moll blames he devil for luring her to a life of crime. It is plausible that when faced with desperation, as she her stated, actions that may have been deem irrational or morally unfit suddenly start to make a lot of sense. Finding herself on the brink of starvation, Moll resorted to stealing. THe first time, as would be suspected of most first time female thieves in those days, brought Moll into a shocking state of mind. However, she places the blame on the devil. This would not merit a fuss except prior to this point in the story there are some things that Moll did that should have generated a similar response. Morality suddenly emerges as a major conviction for one who didn’t seem interested in presenting herself as such a person prior to this time.

Moll blaming the devil for her action would have been more plausible if she had experience some profound spiritual shift in the not too distant past. Yes, she did call herself “an abominable creature” when she was in the process of solidifying the banker’s proposal, but that was an admonition of personal guilt. she was taking responsibility for what she had done up that point.

If this spiritual consciousness had developed after the story that she had told, then the entire story would have been structured in a way that would have reflected that. That is to say that if she is telling the story as one who has repented from all her past deeds and have found religion, then the indifference with which she tells some of these incidents would not have been so profoundly evident. There would have been more remorse on her part. With no record of a profound religious experience, combined with the countless tales of sordid affairs up to this point, it is extremely difficult to believe that she really thought it was the devil.

It is also worthy to note that Moll is telling the story from the viewpoint of one retelling her pas escapades. Perhaps upon such reflection, though her identity was hidden, she couldn’t help but present another reason for doing what she views as detestable. It would have made more sense if the same devil was blamed for the marriage between her and her brother. Though this was an unforeseen event, in which she treated her brother “like a dog than a man, and rather like the most contemptible stranger than a husband,” yet something as base should have obtain finger pointing to a greater extent. Whatever her motives were this doesn’t lend credence to her tale.

Finally, Moll’s reliability is weakened by the disregard she shows towards some of her children, especially the fist two of which she said, were taken “happily off [her] hands by [her] husband’s father and mother.” The reason for her speaking in such a manner may be because it was a marriage that she really didn’t want to be in. However, being pregnant with her first child should have generated such a great deal of love that parting would have been unthinkable. It is hard to imagine that a first time mother would be merry about separating from her children.

This sort of rationalization would have been believable after Moll’s whorish side had been fully developed. Her love for the older brother would have affected her relationship with Robin but not the love that she should have had for her children. One may even argue that any such chance of her being indifferent towards the children would have been improbably due to the fact that the older brother got married.

Parting with the children because of necessity is one thing, but being happy about parting is not typical of first time mothers in any time in history. She was not concerned with even telling the name of her first two children. It is as if they existed for a brief second in her life and they they vanished into the abyss. It’s not impossible that a mother would behave in such a fashion, but it is highly unlikely.

Though Moll, for the most part, can’t be deemed credible, this does not dimisnish the overall point of the story. The truth has been stretched with a great deal of exaggeration but not to the point where it becomes impossible to miss the lessons that come as a result of a woman’s struggle to climb the economic ladder by any means necessary. One will not miss the many discourses and endeavors that challenge the worldview concerning women at that time.

Any story that is being retold, whether it be by the main character or another, will always have missing or exaggerated sections. It is impossible for anyone to present a story with absolutely no particular bent in one way or another. Thus, reliability usually rests in the person’s own credibility and the plausibility of the story that they are proposing to be factual. In the case of Moll Flanders, reliability is far-fetched.