posed to learn from the mistakes of the protagonist. However, during the course of the novel, there is little sermonizing. Perhaps the reader would not recognize the moral value of Moll Flanders if Defoe did not identify it. The references to morality are sparse. It seems like Defoe is trying to look like he is covering up for Moll. Bell says, "the subdued meaning [of the preface] is that the editor [Defoe] is not fully in control of his material..."" (Bell, 119). The absence of morality and this lack of control lead to a very interesting question.
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