Whenever I complain that life isn't fair, I try to remember how wickedness will inevitably catch up with any of us, whether in this way or that, whether sooner or later. You can call it Providence, or you can call it natural law, or you can call it karma, but happiness and misery are always in proportion to virtue and vice.
It might not come back in quite the manner we expect, but it is certain to come back.
Tom has had his fun for a few frames, and now he begins to reap what he sowed. Even then, however, he is unwilling to learn his lesson, and he fails to see all the opportunities for good around him, continuing to take advantage of those who only wish the best for him.
Tom has frittered away his money, and he has built up substantial gambling debts. A bailiff intercepts Tom as he is being carried along in a sedan chair, presenting a warrant for his arrest. Now this would normally mean being dragged to jail, but it turns out that Tom has a guardian angel.
Sarah Young, who we last saw in the first image, happens to be passing by, and she pays her savings to cover Tom's debts. We can tell she is now a milliner from the spilled contents of her bag, a humble yet fine woman who works hard for her money, unlike Tom who only knows how to spend it.
A man filling a street lantern spills some oil as he look on, reflecting the old symbolic use of anointing as a sign of a blessing. This will sadly be a blessing wasted. A boy sneakily steals Tom's cane during all the excitement.
At all the times I believe the odds are stacked against me, there is invariably an opportunity for me to somehow make it right. Let me not be like Tom, and let me change my ways, before it is too late.
William Hogarth, A Rake's Progress IV: The Arrest (1734)
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