Caleb Williams

In Volume 3 of Caleb Williams, Caleb discovers a newspaper titled the “Wonderful and Surprising History, and Miraculous Adventures of Caleb Williams,” which frames him as a notorious thief based on Falkland’s false accusations against him. The newspaper symbolizes society’s acceptance of Falkland’s lie that Caleb is a terrible criminal. In other words, the sensational news about Caleb demonstrates how readily people believe that a poor servant is guilty of stealing from his wealthy master because this narrative aligns with their pre-existing ideas about peasants’ moral inferiority to aristocrats. In Caleb’s society, the strict social hierarchy implies that men like Falkland are noble, virtuous, and trustworthy because of their high rank—while men like Caleb are coarse, selfish, and unprincipled because of their low rank. People throughout society internalize these notions, which condition them to accept unquestioningly that Falkland must be innocent and Caleb guilty. Thus, the newspaper that spreads Falkland’s manipulative lies about Caleb represents how most members of society uphold the unequal system in which they live, where the rich and powerful can determine what’s regarded as true to the detriment of the poor and powerless.

Moreover, the newspaper that villainizes Caleb prevents him from making a new life for himself when he tries to escape Falkland’s persecution. Caleb seeks refuge in a small Welsh village, but the community there shuns him as soon as the newspaper detailing the “Wonderful and Surprising History of Caleb Williams” reaches them. In fact, Falkland has hired the criminal Jones to distribute the newspaper throughout the village to destroy Caleb’s reputation. As a direct result of the newspaper and Falkland’s cruel intervention, Caleb loses work and companionship. That the newspaper causes such harm to Caleb illustrates how thoroughly Falkland has ruined his life, which in turn emphasizes how little effort an aristocrat needs to expend to destroy a peasant’s livelihood and wellbeing. In this way, the newspaper also symbolizes class-based oppression, by which members of the upper classes can and do easily exert their power to abuse members of the lower classes.