The Squire is dull wilted and narrow-minded. The Squire is not as consistent at being a palent than Silas. He does not get as much involved with his children as Silas does with Eppie. Silas is with Eppie on a day-to-day basis whereas the Squire is mainly in the pub away from his children) Silas is also counted as a foreigner even though he
came from a nearby village. Tl!ie people of the village were very superstitious. They thought that anyone who wasn’t from Raveloe was evil or were a supernatural being. As people thought this he had problems communicating with them even though he was sensitive, intelligent and loving.
Th~quire is not hard working and he takes his pleasure from crude things. Such as ~,1~ing red meat, drinking ale and making lewd jokes. This comes out of him
especially when he is in the Rainbow, the local pub. The following quote shows that the squire spent a lot of time in the Rainbow. The higher ranked people had their own
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spot in the pub, and as his family were the only people of that kind in the village they would be the only people who sat there.
“./tSe parlour on the left being reserved for the more select society in which Squire ~,Kass frequently enjoyed the double pleasure...
The Squire is the opposite of Silas. The Squire would rather have nothing to do with his children whereas when Eppie came into Silas’s life he chose not to neglect her but to look after her as well as he possibly could. Godfrey however is like his father on this he would rather get on with his life than having a child around him all the time.t ~ i
This quote from chapter twelve shows Silas’s first encounter with young Eppie who has wandered into his house.
“He leaned forward at last, and stretched forth his hand; but instead of hard coin with the familiar resisting outline, his fingers encountered soft warm curls”
A first Silas mistakes Eppie for his lost gold, but then realizes that she can function as a replacement for his gold. Until this time Silas is completely I7iifaiuajed whh his goklI; bill v~it7h the appearance of Eppie he becomes conscious of the fact that he is capable of loving something otl~t’ then his money. In Silas’s eyes his gold coins were symbolised by the golden cuil< of the child who comes to his hearth. Eppie made Silas into a human being who feels something about people. George ETTot said that thë~bóo7kis intended to set in a strong light, the remedial influences of pure, natural and human relations’. At this point in Silas’s life he went from a shrivelled maggot to a shiny human.
Nowadays single parenting is just a way of life but in the nineteenth century peoj~le ,,~oi{1y understood if it arose out of necessity, such as one parent’s death. ~h~he
~,7 modem notion of a single parent through choice would simply not have been
understood, and certainly not approved. Also, a woman who kept an illegitimate child would be looked down on, and ignored in ‘polite society’. People would not respect her as she went against what they believed in. They believed that it was wrong for a woman to look after a child on her own with no father around. They thought this b~oiino it ivan iiut iiftho iirdinnry h~~t pcitipla nciurndnyn dii nat think it in iurrlng, on it is part of our daily lives. Fortunately this was not the case with Eppie so Silas’s was respected greatly.
Godfrey is completely different from Silas. He is young, handsome, well off and charming. Silas is old and not as good-looking as he would like. People think Nancy Lammeter and Godfrey loo~ed like a handsome couple. This is shown in the following quote.
‘I might tell the Squire how his handsome son was married to that nice young woman”
Silas however is not married. The villagers admire Godfrey, even when he isn’t actipg, as he should be. Silas is alone in the world whereas Godfrey has too much f~ily. I-fe has a bad tempered father, a troubled brother, a wife and child he doesn’t
\/(vant. and a sweetheart who is anxiously waiting for him to propose. Silas works too
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h~td whereas Godfrey doesn’t really have a proper occupation. Whilst Silas tolerates ~is exile from society. Godfrey is impatient and a moral coward. Silas is unfairly
punished, whereas time and again Godfrey manages to escape punishment. This is even for any sins that he has committed, Silas’s loneliness in the world is shown in this quote from chapter one.
“Marner went home, and for a whole day sat alone...”
Godfrey does not have as good relationship with his father as Silas does with Eppie. In chapter nine Godfrey confesses to his father about Wildfires death. At this point the squire was being very patronizing to Godfrey by saying that his weak riding skills were to lead to an accident one day. George Elliot showed that the Squire was angry not just by the words he was saying but also in his actions. This quote shows this clearly.
“The Squire had delivered this speech in a coughing and interrupted manner, but with no pause long enough for Godfrey to make it a pretext for taking up the word again.”
This lengthy section reveals much. It shows the Squire was angry because of the way he would not let Godfrey get a word in, in his long speech. Also whilst Godfrey was ,~tying to explain he wouldn’t even hear his story and forgive him for it just a little bit.
/
Despite all of the Squires weak characteristics, the people of Raveloe still respect him as a gIe~t superior man because of his hereditary position. Though even if they would
\7 like to, the poor do not question his waste of a life, because of his power of what he could do to them.
TheSquire seems to relate to his Sons mainly through their need for money or their hope of inheriting his property. This does not show the characteristic of a good father. One of the main pieces of evidence showing us that he is not as good of a
~/ father as he would like to be is his son Dunsten. He did not bring him up very well and so Dunsten went onto be a nasty, violent alcoholic.
.who seemed to enjoy his drink the more when other people went dry...”
Chapter three talked about if Godfrey were to follow in what Dunsten did then his life would be wasted.
a fine open-faced good-natured young man. . .going along the same road with his brother... If he went on in that way, he would lose Miss Nancy Lammeter...”
The roles of parents in the nineteenth century does have relevance to us today as the way people parent hasn’t changed just the materialistic things they use have. When we re this book we can learn from the mistakes made then and not to make them our yes. Also we can learn from how they cope with situations.
e primary theme, of Silas Mamer is the effect of human relationships on humanity. ove is a life-giving source. Its presence fills Silas’ life and makes it meaningful. Silas’ love for the orphan child becomes his salvation and restores his broken link with humanity. Even with Godfrey, it is the
..... sap of affection”
This quote says about what w~provided by Nancy, which stabilized his life. George Eliot believed that “Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.”
Her pövels show this faith. Godfrey had always chased his desires at the cost of his ~4es. In the end his weakness brings its own punishment when his daughter refuses to live with him.
Another key issue addressed is the conflict of good and evil characters throughout the novel. It is Eliot’s point of view in the novel that evil and sin will be revenged, and morality and virtuousness will be rewarded. Godfrey displays one instance of this when he deceives Nancy and hides the truth about his previous marriage and the child that he fathered. He wishes nothing more than to be free of his responsibilities of fathering his juvenile mistake. In the end of the novel Godfrey and his wife are unable to conceive a child and he is doomed to never take on the role of father again. Even though he is a generally good person, Godfrey is rightfully punished for his sinful and deceitful ways.
This novel talks about many aspects of village life in the nineteenth century. It showed how different people coped with everyday situations in their own ways. We in the twenty-first century can also relate to this because how human beings act never change.
