In my opinion I do not think that the character of Moll Flanders is redeemed in the end of the story. I do think that she changes her ways, and that in a lot of ways you can see an effort to redeem herself. However I do not think that that her character is ever redeemed. I feel that Moll, is a character who does not need to be redeemed , because we have some understanding or empathy for her anyway.
One of the first passages that I think you may begin to notice a change in Moll's character is in page 135. Moll is upset about the fact that she had convinced a man to marry her. He had just proposed marriage to her and given her a ring and she thought to herself, "If I had a grain of true repentance for an abominable life of twenty-four years past, it was then. What an abominable creature am I ! And how this innocent gentleman is going to be abused by me!" At this moment she finally seems to feel remorse for all the men that she has taken advantage of and used for money. At this point we may be seeing some decency and real "gentlewoman" values.
The next passage that I feel shows some remorse on Moll's behalf is on page 142. This passage is one which after being married a while and bearing two children Moll realizes that she is past her prime. At this point she says that she is about forty eight, and she realizes that she is not the handsome creature that she once was. Here, she can no longer rely on her looks to get her the money that she needs. She feels that the devil had prompted her to steal to now support her living. She says, "This was the bait: and the devil, who laid the snare, prompted me as if he had spoke, for I remember, and shall never forget it. It is impossible to express the horror of my soul all the while I did it." I think that this shows that deep in her heart Moll did know that what she was doing was wrong and that she did have some sense of decency. Moll did not want to steal, and she probably did it to go on living, so some might say that it was justified.
