Evaluate the character of Parson Adams.
Or,
Critically analyze the importance of Parson Adams in the novel Joseph Andrews.
Or,
Who is the hero in Fielding's Joseph Andrews? Give reasons for your answer.
Or,
"Parson Adams is a Quixotic character". Is it an adequate description of his character?
Or,
Do you accept the view that Parson Adams is the real hero of the novel Joseph Andrews, and that Joseph is only a nominal hero?
Or,
Bring out the admirable and loveable traits of Parson Adams in the novel Joseph Andrews.
Answer: Although the title of the novel comes with the name of Joseph, Abraham Adams concerns the chief attraction of the readers. The readers are more involved in the old foolish Parson and his encounters with the inhuman, callous, hypocritical, and vain people around him. He is mainly instrumental in stripping the superficial appearance of decency off the face of society and exposing the hideous reality beneath. Though he is the comic hero of the story, it is his fortune that the readers follow him with greater attention.
Parson Abraham Adams is the center of interest in the novel. If Joseph Andrews is the soul of the novel, he is the heart of it. "If he is not the real hero of the boom, he is undoubtedly the character whose fortunes the reader follows with the closest interest." (Austen Dobson). According to Dudden, “That arguable young man, Joseph, may be the center of the plot; but it is the 'Old Parson' that is the center of interest." He is a unique creation of Fielding. He is as unique as Don Quixote of Cervantes. He is Fielding's original creation. Fielding himself claims that he is 'not to be found in any book now extant.' He has been modeled on Fielding's friend, the Reverend William Young, and the character of Don Quixote of Cervantes. His characterization is a fine example of Fielding's art. In his portraiture, he has blended the art of the caricaturist, the burlesque, the romance writer, and the novelist. He is an example of Fielding's rich imagination.
Abraham Adams has a 'comical' face, with a bearded chin and deeply wrinkled cheeks; 'a fist rather less than the knuckle of an ox'. with a wrist 'which Hercules would not have been ashamed of. His legs are so long that they almost touch the ground when he rides on horseback. He is hard and rugged. Being a middle-aged man of fifty he maintains wonderful health.
He usually wears a tattered cassock, partially covered by a short great coat that reaches but halfway down his thighs. On his head, he wears a periwig, which at night he turns inside out and binds to his scalp with a red spotted handkerchief, and an old, tattered hat. In his hand, he carries a stout crab stick. His appearance is so shabby and unparsonlike that it is difficult to blame Trulliber for having mistaken him for a pig dealer.
Besides the odd dress and shabby appearance, Adams has certain oddities too. He is very inquisitive. He is an avid listener than a glib talker, “At the age of fifty he still has the fresh soul of a child who looks out upon our old world with young eyes." He is extremely credulous and simple and he freely allows himself to be deceived with disarming ease.
So far as his eating habits are concerned he comes before us as a glutton. Similarly, he quaffs a large quantity of ale. He is a lovable smoker. He does not like to ride a vehicle. He has the ability to hit back. He can easily lay a churlish innkeeper sprawling on the floor or knock out the fellow who tries to molest Fanny. When a practical joker ventures to take liberties with him, he gives him a good ducking, and when he is attacked by the Squire's men at the new inn, he fights like a madman.
By profession, Parson Adams is a person, a curate. He lives in the parsonage in Sir Thomas Booby's parish but has charge of three more Chapelries. He preaches every Sunday in all four churches. He is a very conscientious priest. He looks on his parishioners like his own children and they too regard him. him with affection as an indulgent parent. But he insists that the villagers consult him on all matters of importance and act in conformity with his counsel. In doctrine, he is a Latitudinarian, and a disciple of Bishop Hoadly. In practice, however, he is something of a high churchman.
Though Adams has a large family-his wife and six children-and has a low income of £ 23 a year, he is able to maintain his scholarship. He is a man of great learning. Educated at the University of Cambridge, he has made himself familiar with many languages; and in particular, he has acquired a masterly knowledge of the Greek and Latin
classics. He can lecture on Homer like a University professor, and he can profusely quote from Theocritus, Virgil, or Horace to illustrate his viewpoints. He had also read the Stoic Moralists. His favorite writer is Aeschylus. He has read the tragedies of Aeschylus and a number of other books. But he is not well versed in modern literature.
Parson Adams is an ideal Christian. He adores rescuing unfortunates in distress, he is ‘a knight errant of the highways'. As mentioned by wigh L'Faussett, 'In Parson Adams he came nearest to creating a character who combines the poetry of worldliness to the of common life, who is at once God's good and no fool. There is a sweetness and lightness too in much of the humor of Joseph Andrews. He is, indeed, a clean vigorous Christian. He believes in helping the poor and the needy. He thus upholds Christianity. He also practices Christian mercy.
On the whole Parson Adams is a Quixotic figure. He is absent-minded. He leaves for London to sell his sermons but leaves the precious manuscripts behind and does not discover the fact till he has accomplished half the journey. His style of speech is old-fashioned. Though a lover of precision, he gets prolix in his discussion. He does not know the meaning of a 'coquette' surprisingly. He has three main vanities. First, he flatters himself that the knowledge he possesses is really masterly, secondly, he is proud of his sermons. Thirdly, he is proud of his being a schoolteacher. So, he is self-deceived by a theoretical ideal of conduct that his own nature will not support. Very often he exaggerates too. 'Just as Don Quixote imagined himself living in the vanished world of chivalry, so Adams imagined himself living in the vanished world of Greece and Rome.
We see that Parson Adams is not only a most effective instrument of social criticism but also an extremely interesting personality on his own. An immortal comic figure, he shows simple 'heroism in his utter nobility. Perhaps, one cannot say that Adams is the real hero of Joseph Andrews. But we see a bifurcation of functions in the novel. Joseph is the protagonist as far as the 'story' is concerned; Adams is undoubtedly the hero as far as the readers' interest matters. Abraham Adams is one of the greatest comic characters in the realm of fiction and Joseph cannot compete for attention while he is there.
Thus, we may come to the conclusion that Parson Adams is one of the supreme achievements in comic characterization. He not only represents Fielding's conception of goodness and Christian charity but also has peculiar characteristics which establish him as an individual.
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