The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
The second
book on the List from Henry Fielding is “The History of Tom Jones, a
Foundling”, or just “Tom Jones” for short.
Readers of
this blog (in case there are any) may remember that I was not terribly
impressed with the first book “Joseph Andrews”, but with this second book Henry
Fielding has redeemed himself. It is a much better book.
This story
follows the adventures of Tom Jones. He was a baby left on the bed of a widowed
and childless nobleman, Mr. Allworthy, who raised him together with his younger
nephew, Mr. Blifil. Where Jones is cheerful, honest but also impetuous, Blifil
is brooding, servile and heartless. While Allworthy is a good man and genuinely
cares for Jones, Blifil finally manages to scheme it so that Jones gets kicked
out in disgrace. This coincide with Jones and the neighbor Mr. Western’s
daughter Sophie fall in love, only to be misinterpreted by Mr. Western and his
sister as Sophie is in love with Blifil. Excited, they set up the marriage only
to discover that it is the poor Jones with no family name and not the rich
Blifil that Sophie loves. This sends her packing as well to avoid the wedding.
We then
follow the many things that happen to Jones and Miss Western on their separate
journeys until they finally arrive in London for a showdown. It goes without
saying that the situation for both get worse and worse with Tom ending up in
prison for murder and Sophie forced to accept marriage with a would-be rapist
if not Mr. Blifil. How can they get out of this mess?
“Tom Jones”
is a comedy and that means that everything is written with a glint in the eye
for amusing effect. And thank heavens, it is actually funny. Some elements are
of course dated, but many are of a timeless quality that makes this story
amusing also for a modern reader. It surprised me that many of Fielding’s
humorous observations of men’s and women’s nature hit home today. The
characters of Mr. Western and his sister are hilarious. Mr. Western is a loud,
rough and quick to action country-side squire, disrespecting anything that
smells of high-culture, while his sister is equally loud and brass but
embracing high-culture to the extend that she considers herself refined and
world-wise. Both however seem to misunderstand or misinterpret even basic concepts
of what they profess, yet have full confidence in themselves. Their arguments
are many and wonderful to read. As are the ridiculous discussions of the
clergyman Mr. Twackum, whose favorite tool is the whip, and Mr. Square, the
logician, who insists on the natural rightness of things. Both hate each other
and both strongly support Blifil against Jones. Idiots who insists on being
right are almost always funny.
Fielding
has many observations of the workings of world around him, mid-eighteen
century, politically, socially and on human interactions. He is cynical and
sarcastic, but delivers his jabs in so good a style that it would be difficult
to be upset with him. He is also not blind to the negatives of his society, the
prejudices against the poor, gypsies or prostitutes or the unfairness inherent
in social hierarchy or between genders. Yet, he stops short of being
revolutionary. He never goes so far as to criticize the system, only the people
representing the system. The faults are human flaws, not inherent flaws in the
system. Women are still subject to the men in their lives, the poor are subject
to the rich and name and title do matter. Jones can only succeed when he is no
longer a foundling but of proper family. Sophie may flee her father, but ultimately
she has to bend to his will.
This is a
weird balance as if with one hand Fielding is progressive, yet with the other
he is conservative. I suppose this has to be seen in the light of his time and
what was possible to write in 1749. As it is, I have a feeling he was pushing
the envelope.
The story
has a good flow and it is an easy book to read. Despite Fielding breaking in
with personal comments to the reader from time to time there is a good pace and
we never loose track of where we are in the story. Only near the end it seems
that the pace becomes too fast as if Fielding ran out of time and wanted finish
off in a hurry. There are several potentially great moments that Fielding rush
past instead of exploiting them. Several meetings are simply referred to having
taken place rather than being described, such as when Jones learns of his
origin.
It is a
small compliant though and does not change the general impression that this is
one of the best books so far. Unfortunately, I have not yet seen the 1963 movie
based on the book but I should look it up. The book however is absolutely
recommended.
