Henry Fielding, the author of Tom Jones, states in chapter 1 of book 1, “...nor can the learned reader be ignorant, that in human nature, though here collected under one general name, there is so prodigious variety, that a cook will have first examined all the different species of animal and vegetable foods of the world, than an author will be able to exhaust such a subject vast. Fielding, as a man of culture and sound knowledge of eighteenth century London society, observes that while "Human Nature" as a subject is well used but never well expressed. He thus tries to express the nature of Tom Jones' different characters and, through them, the character and sensitivity of British society. Furthermore, this mode of representation is subjective to Fielding's thought process, as we can see through his irony at several points in the story. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Fielding tends to “reveal” a character rather than describe them. In this way we learn about the subjective character of other people. The characters in the novel could easily be placed on a gradation scale. Some like Squire Allworthy and Sophia Western are virtuous and kind, while some like young Blifil and Lady Bellaston are wicked and mischievous, both types being at the extremes of the scale. Then there are characters with different levels of goodness. Characters like Jenny Jones, Partridge, and Tom deviate along the way and undergo considerable development over the course of the book. Many of these characters are motivated by money and personal gain, but use different methods to obtain it, which the author uses to show the hypocrisy in England. People like Blifil's tutors abhor and even physically abuse Tom in order to get on good terms with Allworthy and his sister. The people in the inns judge Tom based on his clothing and therefore try to convince him to pay more for his accommodation. Blifil approved the violence for marrying Sophia so he could get her money. The surrounding environment plays an important role in this. Tom grows up under Allworthy's tutelage and is therefore kind and innocent. Blifil grows up in Tom's shadow and feels jealous of him for all the attention Tom receives. This is true in other cases too. Bridget grows up in her brother's shadow with no hope of fortune unless he marries, making her disapproving of her brother and disdainful of marriage. Jenny, who shows academic talent since her youth, has to resort to prostitution to make ends meet and become smarter. Nightingale grows up in London society and learns the ways of shrewd women like Bellaston, which she uses to get rid of her. The local population also becomes part of all this. Within the novel, the townspeople are judgmental and would rather spread rumors than know the truth, so much so that they label Tom as Allworthy's bastard son. The people in the inns also judge Tom's lawlessness and therefore refuse him lodging. When they don't, it's only because they don't want to lose Allworthy's favor. Mrs Fuller also judges Tom and asks him to leave, but then discovers his charitable nature and her opinions of him have changed. One thing common among these people is that they are all bound by the shackles of society and are afraid of doing anything that will bring them bad reputation. Another thing to note is that Fielding rarely describes a character's character, it is usually through the eyes of some other character that we discover it, but when he does, it leads to a static. Personagesas Allworthy and Sophia are synonymous with virtue and righteousness. But so little is described about their actual motivations. Both Sophia and Allworthy are said to be born into privilege, learn good city manners in London and are secure in their place and therefore have no insecurities. They have little to no flaws and no character changes over the course of the story, while many main characters undergo some significant changes, including Blifil who becomes mischievous enough to conspire against Tom's life. It's also worth noting that Allworthy and Sophia are based on real people Fielding knew in his time, so we almost see them through Fielding's eyes rather than Tom's. Another notable storytelling feature is that Fielding keeps people as close to their characters as possible. and uses prose exceptionally in this scheme. This is evident from Partridge's Latin ramblings, Honor's misspelled letters, and Western's offensive language. And, while doing so, he may disagree with the character's opinion and may use irony and satire boldly while patronizing them. The author uses a number of literary devices to create a more compelling narrative and thus creates some of the most memorable characters. Jenny Jones who undergoes a complete change in her character from a talented and cultured young girl to a cunning woman who uses her clever ways to avoid being trampled in the judgmental society. She is unmarried and asks for money but accepts a wife's greeting to command respect from others. He remains true to his word even at the end and reveals Tom's parentage, despite his difficulties and the promise of a large sum to have Tom executed. We also learn something about Fielding's temperament. He twists the plot to give a comical ending. In the last chapters, the characters have no role in any events, it is completely due to a plot twist that Tom is deemed worthy enough to marry Sophia. Although Fielding criticized hypocrisy and used satirical elements throughout the novel, he cannot imagine a plot in which Tom can "become" worthy. Must be "born" worthy. He is unable to break class barriers, both because he cannot think of such a society and because he does not want to irritate readers. Perhaps this achievement was to "undo" promiscuity, but the book nevertheless gained notoriety. While the use of irony used in this way exposes the hypocrisy of human nature, but in some cases it also makes us understand the weakness of the protagonist. Jones is a highly flawed character. Although he is kind and sensitive, he has no intelligence, no talent to speak of. He learns nothing to make ends meet on his travels, sleeping with other women while talking about loyalty to Sophia. He keeps getting into one trouble after another, from which other people save him. It is always an external means that saves him, which somewhat contradicts the author's beliefs about the deux ex machina, mentioned in book 18, chapter 1. which unfortunately we have made our hero, we will not lend him any supernatural help that is available to us been entrusted, on the condition of using it only on very important occasions. While the accidents that saved Tom's life were not supernatural, they were beyond his or anyone else's ability to accomplish. It was pure coincidence that medical care was available for Fitzpatrick, another coincidence that Mrs. Waters was with him. Another coincidence is that Partridge sees Mrs. Waters as she leaves. While this scenario fulfills the comedic nature of the novel, there is no denying how well everything plays out. Please note: this is just an example. Get a personalized document from us now.