J Johnson English Novel to 1832 7/10/00 “Moll Flanders: Freedom or Fate” In New Hampshire I had a Philosophy teacher that used to say, and I believe he was quoting another, “People who believe in freewill are ignorant of the reasons of their actions”. This quote, in the context of Defoe’s Moll Flanders, brings about a multitude of questions and discussion. Was Flanders free or was she predetermined to live a wicked and improper life mired …showed first 75 words of 738 total…

…showed last 75 words of 738 total…would all go mad if this were the case. Humans are much like Moll Flanders. Sutherland says it best, “Moll, it may be argued, is inconsistent because that is what she was, and what most people are.” I would be hard pressed to call it fate, but there certainly is a tinge of something in all of us that, if nurtured, will blossom and sometimes blossom into a not so pretty flower. Bibliography none available