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Motif
Explanation and Analysis—Sent to the Colonies:
In Moll Flanders, three different characters are sent to the American colonies in place of being hanged for criminal acts, forming a motif. The novel opens with Moll’s mother facing deportation to the colonies for her crime of stealing fabric. She ends up leaving young Moll in England before being sent to the colonies. Later, Moll also faces exile after being convicted of stealing fabric. Her husband James is similarly sent to the “New World.”
In the minds of many convicts (including James), being sent to the colonies was worse than death—"the Woods and Wildernesses of America,” as James called them, were scary and unknown. In the 17th century, settler-colonialists were just starting to map the terrain. Additionally, criminals sent to the colonies had no money to their name and were often forced to become indentured servants.
That said, all three characters who are sent to the colonies for their crimes end up becoming financially prosperous and living comfortable lives as plantation-owners in Virginia. In this way, Defoe is furthering the idea that moving to the American colonies offered people in England a chance at a fresh start. At the same time, as evidenced by Moll accidentally marrying her half-brother in Virginia, Defoe is highlighting that it is hard to fully escape one’s past.
That Moll and James end up moving back to England even after developing comfortable lives for themselves in Virginia shows how, despite Moll’s constantly shifting identity, she still sees herself as an Englishwoman and considers her country of origin her true home.
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