Or,
Why is Joseph Andrews regarded as a successful novel despite its lack of organic unity?
Answer: Joseph Andrews is considered one of the most successful novels for the magnetic beauty of its structure. Though it does not have any united plot, it has a plot different from a plot in a literary work such as a play or a novel. In this novel, Henry Fielding has brought different issues altogether and thus presents life itself. He has also projected the events in the shape of a journey that Adams experienced in the novel. The very name of the leading character as Adams is also important. His experience through the journey somehow carries the Biblical reference in Joseph Andrews. Now, I will evaluate the issue in detail.
Joseph Andrews is a long string of incidents, events, actions, happenings, deeds, and episodes without a thematic idea to bind them together or unify them. Most of these incidents and events occur on the road, by the roadside, or in country houses. The main. characters that appear in most of these incidents and events are Parson Adams, Joseph, and Fanny. Some sort of a plot there certainly is because the love affair of Joseph and Fanny provides a recurrent theme. But, on the whole, it is the journey motif that prevails. Like a picaresque novel, Joseph Andrews takes us on a journey and acquaints us with the incidents of that journey.
Critics have found certain recurrent themes in the novel and tried to establish some kind of unity in its structure of it. For instance, some consider the contrast between male chastity and female incontinence as the chief issue found in the novel. But, some others opine that charity is the dominant theme of the novel. However, charity too cannot be held as the theme of the entire novel. There are certain portions of the novel such as the story of Mr. Wilson and the story of Jilt, which have no connection with the theme of charity. According to yet some other critics, the principal theme of the novel is that Christian benevolence arises from integrity. Thus, various opinions of different critics show that there is no single dominant theme to unify the action of this novel.
The lack of an organic unity behind the events is not the only error in the structure of the novel. There are many digressions in the novel that further disrupt the structure. They are of two types. There are stories within the main story. We find three such stories- the story of Leonora and Jilt, the story of Mr. Wilson, and the story of two friends. These stories have hardly anything to do with the principal figures in the novel. The other kind of digression is to be found in the three prefatory chapters preceding the first three books of the novel. Such passages interrupt the flow of the narrative and it becomes difficult for the average reader to follow the sequence of events.
The theme of the novel is the experiences and adventures, in which Adam, Joseph, and Fanny meet. This epic of the road is a comic epic, making us laugh at almost every step. Often we laugh at Adams because of his forgetfulness, which gives rise to much mirth. However, there are other comic characters as well-Mrs. Slipslop, Parson Trulliber, Mrs. Tow-Wouse, and the squire of false promises. This novel is excellent also by virtue of being a realistic picture of contemporary life. Realism is true, a half-mark of this novel, even though there is plenty of exaggeration in the picture presented to us. Here, contemporary life is offered to us by satirical means. The author conveys to us the follies, vices, and absurdities of the people of that time by presenting them satirically.
In the end, we may note that Joseph Andrews is a work of experience gathered by its author in different levels of life and society. He has presented all of them in the form of a journey, life on this earth is a journey toward eternity. This journey motif is thus important for the plot construction of the novel.
