To find the truth the members of the church resolved on praying and drawing lots. The lots declared that Silas Marner was guilty. Silas’s trust in man had been cruelly bruised. He had been convicted of a crime his best friend had framed him for. However he had only realised this after being convicted and it was after this discovery that Silas said to William, “there is no such God tat governs the earth righteously, but a God of lies, that bears witness against the innocent.” What made the event even more unfair and cruel was the fact that William used Silas’s fits, his weakness, as a chance to steal the money. God had failed to save Silas who later left the village with a shaken trust in God and man who had both found him guilty of a crime he hadn’t committed. He was expelled from the church and it was from this point on that Silas defiantly decided that God was not on his side and was therefore not worth worshipping.
Silas moved to Raveloe, a distant village where he worked as a lone weaver. He failed to attend church services or drink at the local village pub and be sociable. He was treated as an outsider as his life revolved around his money and work which reflected his very antisocial behaviour. After Silas had been accused of theft his fiancée, Sarah, had ended their engagement and married William. This was another reason for Silas to feel that there was no God that governed the earth righteously and so he put his trust in money, a form of power that would not betray him but would make him secure and more powerful.
One night in Raveloe Silas had retreated from his cottage to go into the village leaving his meat cooking over the open fire. Silas had left his door unlocked as everybody in the neighbourhood was familiar with each other and robbers were rare. The setting of the village meant that no-one ever thought that they could be robbed and that particular night was cold, wet and overall quite unpleasant so Silas didn’t feel the need to lock his door. Despite all of this Silas still kept his gold hidden under the floor in his cottage, this emphasises the importance of his money to him.
However when Silas returned to his cottage to eat his dinner and count his money he was astonished and shocked to not be able to find his gold. It was in fact, Dunstan, a son of the Squire Cass who had robbed Silas and it seemed that God once again had no intentions of helping Silas. The rain during the night wiped away any foot prints that had once been there which could have lead to the thief’s capture. Silas’s money meant everything to him, he knew the exact amount he had saved and the idea of having lost it all left him totally devastated and confused. He considered that the devil or evil spirits may have stolen the money, after all Silas believed that they had played a part in his conviction of theft in Lantern Yard when he was found guilty. However, few people including Silas knew that this event was going to lead to his regeneration.
Silas may have lost faith and hope in God but he still appeared to have some faith in humans because he rushed to the ‘Rainbow’, the local pub, for help. It was from this point on that we begin to notice the change in the village community and their attitude towards Silas and Silas’s change in his personality and his overall behaviour and attitude as he begins to mix with other people. The villagers believed Silas lead such a withered and shrunken life and that he could hardly be susceptible to a bruise but this was not the case as Silas’s money was very precious to him and he was severely bruised, as was his confidence and trust. He was generally spoken of as a ‘poor mushed creature and that his avoidance of his neighbours was due to his ill-will but was now considered mere craziness.
Silas had just gone to the Rainbow to recover his gold but he discovered the warmth in the local community and due to his genuine distress the villagers reacted with caring concern, for the first time he was feeling supported. When the search for the thief failed, visitors to his home suggested various reasons for Silas to be neighbourly and attend church services. Villagers spoke to Silas in the streets as well as visiting his home to give presents and gifts in hope to lift his spirits. Some neighbours suggested that his money had been taken from him because he thought too much of it and never came to church.
We are already experiencing the regeneration of Silas where he is coming into contact with other people from the same community and making conversation. Now that he had lost his money his life served little purpose and he sat at his work or by the fire at night moaning wishing he could have it back to count while he ate. However its disappearance led to Silas becoming a better person fitting in better with community life. Money ceased to be important to Silas as his interrogation within the Raveloe community grew.
Mr Macey, the clerk of the Parish, visited Silas and was honest to Silas in telling him, “You’re a deal better off to ha’ lost your, nor to ha’ kep it by foul means.” Mr Macey also told Silas how he was harmless but how his money made him a miserable and unsociable person who served little purpose. He also tried to persuade Silas to attend the church regularly or make use of his knowledge of his herbs and remedies.
One night Molly Farren, the mother of Eppie and wife to Godfrey fell to the ground under the influence of opium to which she was addicted. She carried Eppie, her child in her arms who later woke up on the ground and toddled towards the light from Silas’s open door. Eppie reached the fireplace where she fell asleep in the warmth.
Silas had begun looking out of his open door at night as villagers had told him to listen to the New Year bells which would bring him good luck and as we are about to find out, signal another factor leading to his regeneration and changing his beliefs. Here we notice that the New Year is bringing a new start to Silas’s life. Silas had been in one of his fits while Eppie, the daughter of Molly had walked into the cottage and settled in front of the fire. On recovering he bent to mend the fire and he thinks he saw his returned gold on the floor but he soon realised after touching Eppie that it was actually a sleeping child. Silas claimed his right to keep the child to the doctor who had attended to Molly who died in the snow not far from Silas’s cottage.
Raveloe quickened its changing attitude to Silas because he adopted the orphan. The women within the village were helpful in guiding Silas on how to care for the child and provided good advice and some warnings. It is as though Eppie replaced the importance of his money, and that didn’t change as Silas didn’t return to his work and his counting gold which suggests he became totally reformed due to the appearance of Eppie. The only time money was of any importance to Silas anymore was when Eppie wanted or needed something.
