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Book 18, Chapter 3
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Virtue vs. Vice
Marriage, Romance, and Economics
Appearance vs. Reality
Coming of Age
Storytelling, Literature, and Structure
Summary
Analysis
Square writes a surprising letter to Allworthy. In it, he says he’s gotten news recently that he’s going to die. The end of his life has caused Square to reflect and he realizes he treated Tom unjustly, blaming him for things he didn’t do, and he thinks Tom probably truly loved Allworthy back then.
Perhaps one of the most shocking twists in the final book of the novel is that for once, Square and Thwackum genuinely disagree, rather than just taking different routes to arrive at the same answer. Square’s reminder of his own mortality causes him to consider morality in a new way, and this causes him to be more sympathetic to Tom.
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Allworthy also receives a letter from Thwackum. In the letter, Thwackum says he’s not surprised that Square has gone soft on Tom or that Tom has been accused of murder. He says Tom could’ve been a good person if Allworthy just allowed Thwackum to be harsher. Allworthy reads Thwackum’s letter and realizes he never really like Thwackum.
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