Ideal Clergy Man – Parson Adam or Parson Trulliber

Ideal Clergy Man – Parson Adam or Parson Trulliber in Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding

Ideal Clergyman and Fielding

According to Fielding's ideal clergyman must have such characteristics: "Humble, charitable, benevolent, void of envy, void of pride, void of vanity," (p. 283).

Therefore, the Parson Adam or Parson Trulliber who complies with Fielding's demands must be the most learned, strong and intelligent.

Parson Trulliber

Trulliber's vices diminish the role of the clergyman since he is uncouth, haughty, cruel, unchristian, immoral, and vain. His meeting with Parson Adams, a nice clergyman, serves as a vehicle for Fielding's satire of the unkind clergyman. Trulliber's predicament stems from the fact that he is not a clergyman; rather, he is a farmer who, reluctantly, only considers his parishioners' spiritual well-being one day every week.

In "An Apology for the Clergy," Fielding emphasises several points, including the need for clergy to remain focused on spiritual matters and to maintain regular contact with their flocks because "Trulliber is more interested in feeding hogs than in nourishing people spiritually." Trulliber's love of animals, especially hogs, is understandable given that he resembles them in both appearance and demeanour. Fielding expertly reduces Trulliber through the bodily description.

“Trulliber pushes Adams into a pig-sty; then will not let his wife draw a basin of water for Adams so be can wash off inside, but instead makes Adams clean up outside. He commands his wife to serve Adams the poorest ale, and when she is bringing Adams a second glass of ale, snatches it away and downs it in one gulp, exclaiming". (p. 139)

Trulliber shouldn't have been a clergyman if he truly believed in the value of charity. Trulliber's mock-pious response to Adams' initial loan request is that he is not interested in building up an earthly store because his heart is in the Scriptures:

“To be content with a little is greater than to possess the world; which a man may possess without being so. Lay up my treasure! what matters where a man's treasure is whose heart is in the Scripture? There is the treasure of a Christian”. (p. 140)

 

Parson Adam

On the other hand, Parson Adam has two other good traits that add to his strengths as an "almost real clergyman: humility (most of the time), charity, fairness, dedication, and the capacity to inspire his parishioners to adore him. He is steadfast in seeking the will of God and his conscience, and he has a deep devotion to the sacraments, in place of the unfair and unlawful requests of some.

When Lady Booby requests that Adams not publicise Joseph and Fanny's nuptial prohibitions, noting that Adams owes her his service, Adams reacts angrily:

"I know not what your ladyship means by the terms 'master' and 'service’. I am in the service of a Master who will never discard me for doing my duty”. (p. 241)

At Joseph and Fanny's wedding, Adams displays his second strength—his intense commitment to the sacraments—and for it, Fielding bestows the highest praise on any of his clergymen:

“Mr. Adams performed the ceremony; at which nothing was so remarkable as the extraordinary and unaffected modesty of Fanny, unless the true Christian piety of Adams, who publicly rebuked Mr. Booby and Pamela for laughing in so sacred a place, and so solemn an occasion. Our parson would have done no less to the highest prince on earth: for, though he paid all submission and deference to his superiors in other matters, where the least spice of religion intervened, he immediately lost all respect of persons”.

(p. 296)

Conclusion

Finally, it's important to note that, in contrast to Parson Trulliber, Parson Adam possessed all the essential characteristics of a clergyman. Despite a few minor vices, Adam's general traits establish him as a genuine priest throughout the novel.

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