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Book 8, Chapter 13
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
The Man of the Hill continues his story, explaining how Watson told him that he fell on ill luck and felt he had no choice but to kill himself. A surgeon comes in and brings news about the Duke of Monmouth invading from the west. Both the Man of the Hill and Watson take up arms to try to help the Duke of Monmouth overthrow King James II. But after the Man of the Hill is injured in battle, Watson betrays the Man of the Hill, turning him over to James II’s troops. The Man of the Hill fears what will happen to him, but good luck gives him a chance to escape the troops. He eventually goes home and reaches an agreement with his brother about his brother providing him an annuity. He went on to spend his time traveling, and Tom interrupts the story to ask where he traveled.
The reference to the Duke of Monmouth attempting to overthrow James II sets this part of the story in 1685. In many ways, this battle over the legitimacy of leadership in England foreshadows the Jacobite rising of 1745 that is the backdrop for Tom’s story. All of these conflicts reflect how English identity is not a stable concept and how different sides all have different interpretations of it and different goals for the country, even across generations, from the older Man on the Hill to the young Tom.
Active
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