Freedom and Destiny at Moll FlandersDo people who believe in free will simply ignore the reasons for their actions? In the context of Defoe's Moll Flanders, this question may give rise to considerable debate. Was Flanders free or was she predetermined to live an evil and improper life mired in years of penance? Did Moll's mother's prostitute behavior predetermine Moll's actions? There is certainly no doubt that Flanders was a criminal: she was a whore, a thief and practiced incest. As for Flanders having sex with her brother, it would be hard to argue that this was a predetermined event considering she actually did it. she did not know that her husband was of her own blood. If, in fact, she was aware of the relationship and then chose to proceed, then it could be discussed further in the context of free will. As for being a whore, there is no doubt that Flanders, especially later in her life, involved herself in such events, but for me it was the theft that seemed to capture the essence of the constant unraveling and constant Flanders' need for penance. There is no better part of Defoe's work to capture the feelings of utter despondency than when Moll is about to steal from the apothecary's shop for the first time. Defoe precedes the scene with a few paragraphs in which Moll explains her absolute "state of desolation". The crime is therefore set in what James Sutherland explains: "... Moll's first theft is set with such attention to detail as to fix it in our minds and give it that air of authenticity which, for Defoe, is almost justification of the fiction". This is where Defoe's journalistic style shines. The reader is in fact in the apothecary and sees Moll's gaffe unfold before him. We are free to judge whether or not we will take the bundle that so often becomes Moll's goal in the future. It is in that instant that we can decide whether Moll was free to do so or whether he was controlled by something inevitable, like fate. If Moll had acted out of free will, it is arguable that she would not repeat the same crime in the future, in fact she would most likely avoid any such act that resulted in the terrible feelings she experienced during and after the first crime. Because she herself says: "It is impossible to express the horror of my soul while I was doing this".