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Genova Darby
Professor Rovira
ENG 348 01
10/15/12
Thwackums Believable Lies versus Mr. Partridges Unbelievable Truth in Tom Jones
The division of social classes has created many problems throughout history. For example, the
people in the upper class could commit horrible crimes, and get away with them just because
they were a part of the upper class. On the other hand, people who were in the lower class could
be blamed and punished for crimes that they did not commit just because they were a part of the
lower class. In some cases the lies of the upper class were more believable than the truth of the
lower class; however in Henry Fieldings novel Tom Jones it is shown that people can be a part
of the same social class yet can be treated completely different from one another. Mr. Thwackum
and Mr. Partridge are a part of the same social class, yet they are not treated as equals. The views
that society has about these characters and the personalities of both characters influence how one
characters lies are believed over the other characters truths.
Mr. Thwackum is viewed by his society as a very good and religious man that can do no
wrong. The narrator states that [Thwackum] decided all Matters by Authority; but, in doing this;
he always used the Scriptures and their Commentators (Fielding 83). Even though Thwackum
is very religious and uses his religion to judge all matters, his personality does not contain any
sort of goodness or kindness. That being said, Thwackum has a very mean personality that does
not come close to the kind Christian that his religion says he should be. Thwackum uses his
religion as means to justify the malicious things that he does to others. For example, Thwackum
whips Tom Jones on several occasions under the pretense that Tom committed a sin, when in
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reality Thwackum just wants to impress Bridget Allworthy, and he genuinely enjoys beating
Tom. Mr. Thwackum also lies to Mr. Allworthy about Tom to make Tom look bad. Thwackum
does this because he does not like Tom, and these acts of aggression towards Tom please his
precious ward Blifil. For example, Mr. Thwackum declares that Tom attacked him and Blifil,
when in reality Blifil and Thwackum started the fight with Tom. Mr. Allworthy believes
Thwackum, because Thwackum is viewed as a good and religious man. In addition to this
Thwackums lie was more believable than Toms truth. Since Mr. Allworthy is more able to
believe Thwackums lie, he becomes angry with Tom. Mr. Thwackum is not the only character
whos personality does not match the view that society has of him. Mr. Partridge is cast in a
negative light by society when his personality is actually good.
Mr. Partridge is viewed by society as man who is cowardly, beats his wife, and gets Jenny
Jones pregnant. Mr. Partridges true personality is not really like the view that society has of
him. Mr. Partridge is a very reserved man. He likes to keep to himself and not bother people. Mr.
Partridge really does not like confrontation and so he tries to avoid it by keeping silent. By
keeping silent Mr. Partridge ends up becoming a scape goat for the crimes other people commit,
when he is truly innocent. For instance, Mr. Partridge was accused of sleeping with Jenny Jones
and getting her pregnant. He ends up taking the blame for this crime even though he had not
slept with her. In addition to the above, he also takes the blame for beating his wife when he
actually does not. For example, the narrator states that The poor Man, who bore on his face
many and more visible Marks of the Indignation of his Wife, stood in silent Astonishment at this
Accusation; which the Reader will, I believe bear Witness for him, had greatly exceeded the
Truth; for indeed he had not struck her once; and this Silence being interpreted to be a
Confession of the Charge, by the whole Court, they all began at once, una voce, to rebuke and
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revile him, repeating often, that none but a coward ever struck a Women ( Fielding 61). When
Mr. Partridge tries to tell the truth about his situation with his wife no one believes him, so he
just stops trying and remains quiet. As stated in the above passage, Mr. Partridges silence is
interpreted as him being guilty of beating his wife when she was actually the one who had
beaten him. In the case of Mr. Partridge his truth is more unbelievable than the lies that people
are telling about him, while in the case of Mr. Thwackum, the lies he is telling about people are
more believable than the actual truth. There are several reasons why this occurs.
The first reason is that Mr. Thwackum has religion on his side. As mentioned before
Thwackum uses his religion as a way to justify the bad things that he does. In fact his religion
acts as almost as shield for him, because no one would ever think that such a religious man
would commit the malicious acts that he does. His society definitely did not believe that such a
religious man would tell lies. Since Mr. Partridge does not have or use his religion as a shield his
word is not taken as seriously as Thwackums word. The second reason that Thwackums lies are
more believable than Mr. Partridges truth is that Mr. Thwackum is telling the lies, while Mr.
Partridge is having lies told about him.
Mr. Thwackum lies certainly have an advantage over Mr. Partridges truth. It is easier for
Mr. Thwackum to tell lies about someone and have them be believed, for the reason that when
Mr. Thwackum lies he has control over the situation. For example, when he lied to Mr.
Allworthy about Tom, he was in control of the situation since he was the one telling the story,
and Tom and Mr. Allworthy were on the receiving end of the story. Also Mr. Thwackum seems
to only tell lies about other people; no one really tells any lies about him, which could be due to
his religiousness. In Mr. Partridge situation he is not the lie teller, but the one that the lies are
being told about. This leaves Mr. Partridge in a vulnerable situation, since he has to listen first to
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the lies that are being told about him, and then he has to try to tell the unbelievable truth after
people listened to very believable lies. If Mr. Partridge were the lie teller he would have more
control over the situations that seem to happen to him. The third reason that Mr. Thwackums
lies are more believable than Mr. Partridges truth is that Mr. Partridge lacks courage.
Mr. Thwackum has the courage to act the way he does, and tell the lies that he does. He
believes that what he does to people is the right thing to do when it really is wrong, which helps
to make his lies more believable. Mr. Partridge does not have the courage to stand up for himself
even when it is the right thing to do. As stated at the beginning of the paper Mr. Partridge does
not like confrontation of any kind, and he can be viewed as a coward for this reason. Since he
does not like confrontation, Mr. Partridge keeps silent, and this silence is assumed to be
attributed to his guilt over doing something wrong. In the article The Nobility of Nonviolence:
Person Perception as a Function of Retaliation to Aggression authors Suresh Kanekar and
Maharukh B. Kolsawalla discuss how some people who do not fight back may be viewed as
being either a coward or a noble person. Maharukh and Kolsawalla state that when a victim of
aggression does not retaliate in like manner, he could be perceived either as a coward who is
afraid of counterretaliation or as a noble person who is against aggression as a matter of
principle (Kanekar and Kolsawalla 159). Mr. Partridges silence makes him appear to other
characters to be a coward, when he actually does not fight back because it goes against his own
personal principal of avoiding conflicts. Mr. Thwackums situation it is the reverse of Mr.
Partridges situation. Mr. Thwackum is thought of as being very religious and with this people
assume that he is noble. Being viewed as a noble person people may assume that he is against
aggression as a matter of principle when in fact aggression is one of Mr. Thwackums main
principles.
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In Henry Fieldings novel Tom Jones it is shown that people can be a part of the same
social class yet can be treated completely different from one another, which can be seen in the
case of Mr. Thwackum and Mr. Partridge. Mr. Thwackum and Mr. Partridge are both teachers
which makes them a part of the same social class; however their personalities and the external
views of their society influence the way people believe Mr. Thwackums lies and doubt Mr.
Partridges truth.

















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Works Cited

Fielding, Henry. Tom Jones. Ed. Sheridan Baker. 2nd ed. New York: Norton & Company, 1995.
Print.
Kanekar, Suresh, and Maharukh B. Kolsawalla. The Nobility of Nonviolence: Person
Perception as a Function of Retaliation to Aggression. Journal of Social Psychology:
159-60. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.