Moll Flanders stands quite alone in the world. The older Moll lives a life of financial security in Virginia. Defoe reveals, through Moll, not only the kind of necessity that drives the urban poor to a life of crime, but also the kind of society which allows Moll to prosper. Social identities became fluid; money could bring power and prestige. Moll’s social identity is unfixed because she uses it in a system of trade, selling sex, affection, or the goods she steals.