Finish of Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

 Previously, I had issues with this novel. I was irritated with the fact that the plot line became redundant with Moll's multiple marriages that fell apart, her misfortunes that left her destitute on multiple occasions, and the never ending issues that seemed to arise in her life. I very easily gave up this novel to move onto something more interesting. As I was looking into this book online to see if anyone else was having this problem, I found that I was not alone in wanting to give up this book.  I also found that readers who stayed with the novel found many redeeming qualities about the text that made it a classic. As a result of these reviews and my stubbornness, I prevailed in finishing this book!

I was excited to find that the reviews were accurate in that the book did redeem itself. Moll's life went from getting married every five pages to her thieving for survival. While these choices were not the greatest in morality, this was her only form of survival. Although, this did cost her considerably when she couldn't give up this trade despite her financial security, landed in Newgate (the main prison in London during this time period), and almost lost her life via hanging until she truly repented her past sins and gained reprieve from death.

As a result of her near death experience, she carried out her life in honorable fashion by reuniting with a past husband, moving to colonized American, and finding a long lost son. It helped that she received a hefty inheritance in America too.

These changes really helped the plot to move forward and the change of scenery was appreciated as a reader. Defoe spoke to the root of morality and discussed the implications of morality on two fronts: sometimes you need to sin to survive and morality can sometimes get you nowhere. As a result of this theme, Moll Flander's is a text that has gone down as one the most classic novels in history. While man students might not be able to get into this text because of the slow moving pace at the start of the text, anyone who can stick with it like I did is in for a great surprise in the end.