What's in a Name ?

Lets discuss the names in Tom Jones, well only one in particular Tom Jones himself. While everyone else in the book is running around with names like Allworthy, Squire, and Blifil… the main character, the hero gets a run of the mill name like Tom Jones. Many reasons can be attributed to this like the fact that he is foundling so he has ability to make a name for himself, or perhaps to furthermore portray him as a realistic character, or to simply make him stand out. In today’s day the name Tom Jones is like saying John Smith its any common males name used as a symbol for the regular Joe with the common boy stereotypes, which is comparable to our character Tom. This should be thrown in to the melting pot of discussions and books on how boys are and should be raised nowadays, because hey it’s promoting the wild and impulsive.

Pamela's Moral Regurgitation

In the movie Team America, World Police (yes, I know, weird reference, but I am going somewhere with this, I promise, so stick with me here!) there is a scene in which the main character gets drunk in a bar after alienating his team. He ends up alone in a back alley, and with emotional music playing in the background, he vomites. Perhaps it was meant to symbolize his disgust with himself, or his purging himself of negativity or perhaps it was meant for the viewer to see just how far the man sunk. Whatever the case, he falls down, spent after omitting. But then he vomits again (with the music playing again, of course). He lays down again. Then he vomits AGAIN and the music plays AGAIN. I forget how many times it happens, but suffice it to say, it happens enough times for the viewer to wonder if THEY might vomit.

That's how I feel Pamela was trying to drive home the point of virginity. It just happened again and again, with Pamela vomitting out these words of virtue and virginity and upholding her family's honour. The scene where she runs through the house praying in every single room is just so unneccesary. It's the vomitting scene all over again. It's an overdone message that loses its significance in its redundancy. I think this is why Fielding felt he needed to write Jones. He needed to create a character that doesn't just regurgitate the morals they were taught in Sunday school.

Shamela and Pamela

I apologize for the late response on Pamela and Shamela...I have been having "sign in" issues....

The story of Pamela drew me in. I was curious to see how Pamela's life would unfold as she continued to reach for a life involving her boss. The emphasis of virginity in the book is blatent and it leaves the reader wondering how her loss of virginity will affect her life. Being only 15 years old plays a huge role in the character analysis of Pamela...she's a child, but considering the time period, she isn't. Her constant writing to her parents became annoying after a while...it was like as if she was trying to convince herself of her "virtue"...I guess she had nothing much to do but write.

Shamela was a slightly more entertaining piece. I laughed when I noticed the letter writing in this book as well because I for some reason, at first, thought of Shamela as a "comedic" piece that makes fun of Pamela. In our class discussion it was said that some students saw Shamela as a target piece-targetting women in general and lower class women to be specific (maids). In both books, virtue is a key theme and is addressed in different ways. In Pamela the theme of virtue is present through her letter writing as well as her quest for the older man where in Shamela it's a theme that is faced but with a more general focus on other key themes as well.

What Does Realistic Mean?

While reading Tom Jones, I'm still struck by the pontificating, commenting, and so on from Fielding. His character development lacks the kind of depth I expect from a realistic novel. I'm trying to keep my thinking in tune with the time it was written, but still find that it's ponderous and slow going to get to the point. Maybe it's just the language of the 18th century that's tripping me up.

Anyone else finding this to be a bit of slog?