In Henry Fielding’s novel Joseph Andrews, we are presented with a character that shares a name with the novel and is assumed to be the hero of the story. The question must be raised though, is he truly a hero. When one thinks of a hero one usually thinks of a person who is willing and able to battle against Fate itself in order to achieve their ultimate goal. This description doesn’t really fit Joseph however. For most of the story it seems like he is just willing to follow the will of others without complaint, and almost every time some ill befalls him he really doesn’t do much to avoid it, instead he ends up being saved time and again by others. Let’s look towards the end of the novel where misfortune upon misfortune seems to befall Joseph. First, him and Fanny are taken to court and when they are about to be sentenced to be exiled from the parish, Fanny is clearly upset, but it seems as if Joseph is resigned to his fate and makes no move to stop the sentencing, luckily for them Squire Booby shows up and saves them. Later when Joseph and Fanny find out they might be related, Joseph automatically accepts the Peddlar’s story and goes about making plans how he can still spend his life with Fanny. In fact the only time we ever see Joseph react to the circumstances thrust upon him in any way is when someone tries to separate him and Fanny. We see him struggle against his sister and Squire Booby when they forbid the marriage, and he attacks Didapper when he comes on to Fanny. In the end these actions seem too little too late, but then one must remember that this is a mock-epic, in which case Joseph would be a mock-epic hero. So, if that’s the case wouldn’t it go without saying that the hero should be almost the exact opposite of those like Achilles and Odysseus?
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