Moll's disposal of her children is just one of the many immoral, unsavory activities in which she engages throughout the book. It's patently obvious that she regards them as nothing more than an onerous burden she wants to get rid off as soon as possible. It's fair to say that Moll doesn't have much of a maternal instinct, but even so, her actions in this regard are particularly shocking.

From a literary perspective, however, Moll's heartless decision makes perfect sense, for Moll Flanders is intended to be a picaresque romp through the dark back alleys of London's criminal underworld. Our guided tour guide in this sordid journey is the book's title character, a woman who moves about from place to place in search of riches. To put it bluntly, such a journey would've been impossible for Moll to make with two kids in tow.

Besides, Moll's shameful abandonment of her children allows Defoe to show us straight away just what kind of character we're dealing with here. For Moll, children are an encumbrance, an impediment to riches. And if there's one thing we know about Moll, it's that she'll allow nothing to stand in her way when it comes to the acquisition of money, not even her own flesh and blood.

Why does Daniel Defoe easily dispose of Moll's children in Moll Flanders?

Right from the start, we're left in no doubt that Moll Flanders regards other people as nothing more than commodities. That includes her own children. Some commodities are valuable to her and others aren't. Her children clearly fall into the unimportant category. So she leaves them to be raised by her in-laws while she sets off on her sordid adventures.

Now that Defoe, in the guise of his title character, has disposed of Moll's children, he's now in a position to let his antiheroine provide the reader with a guided tour of London's criminal underworld. As one can imagine, this is a pretty sleazy little world, certainly no place for Moll's children. Moll is a free spirit and simply will not be tied down for any appreciable length of time. If she'd brought her kids along with her, she wouldn't have had the freedom to do what she wanted. To put it crudely, her children would've cramped her style.

Disposing of Moll's kids early on also gives us an insight into her generally unappealing character. A woman who can casually discard her children like so many used tissues is not someone who naturally invites much in the way of sympathy. But at least we know just what kind of character we're dealing with. From now on, Defoe hopes that we will stick with the story even if it's just to see Moll get her comeuppance for being such a greedy, selfish bawd.