Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Joseph Andrews, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Hypocrisy
Lust vs. Chastity
Social Class
Religion and Charity
Summary
Analysis
Abraham Adams goes to visit parson Trulliber at his house (although Trulliber is really only a parson on Sundays and a farmer the rest of the week). Trulliber is a huge man, and when Adams arrives, Trulliber mistakes him for a dealer looking to buy pigs and drags him into the pigsty. Adams politely goes along with it until a hog throws him into the mud, and then he admits he’s a clergyman.
Trulliber represents the sin of gluttony, and while Adams also has elements of this sin, Trulliber takes it to an even greater extreme. Adams’s inability to explain himself to Trulliber suggests that Adams has difficulty communicating with others, despite how much Adams values his own sermons—that is, his ability to communicate effectively about religion.
Themes
Trulliber and Adams go to have breakfast. Trulliber eats a lot but also complains about his wife’s cooking, although she is happy to keep trying to please him. Eventually Adams gets to the point and asks about a loan. He gives a grand speech about why he needs it. At first Adams thinks he’s convinced Trulliber to help him, but then Trulliber says no. He says he doesn’t even believe Adams is a clergyman, in part because Adams’s cassock is torn. Adams protests, but Trulliber throws him out of his house.
Although clergymen preach the value of modesty, many people in the story don’t recognize Adams as a clergyman precisely because his outer appearance is so modest and shabby. This suggests that outward appearances are important and that people actually expect clergyman to be a little hypocritical when it comes to living humbly and virtuously.
Themes
