An example of a character that dishonoured his duty is Godfrey. Godfrey’s first wife was addicted to alcohol as well as drugs. This addiction causes her to have many emotional problems and worries. She needs comfort towards her depressed state of mind. However Godfrey does not fulfil the duty that he has to his wife, to be a good husband and to support her. However Godfrey does support her financial needs but that’s all the support that he gives her. He does not show any love or devotion to her, and this made her feel even more isolated and lonely. He also has a child with Molly. He did not help her to raise their child. This action had its own consequence. We, as the reader could also see that Godfrey is also suffering from depression further on in the novel. It is very ironic that he brought depression on his wife and was later in the same state of mind. After realising that Eppie is one of his duties in life, he asked Silas for her back. Silas has the right to refuse and so does Eppie. The reason for this is, they had both lived and loved for one and other for the last sixteen years, therefore Godfrey had lost his chance. The loss of Eppie in Godfreys’s life brought much hopelessness to him, as he was incapable of having a child with Nancy. Now Godfrey has to live the rest of his life in guilt for not doing his duties to Eppie. This is the punishment that he received. Another punishment is that his current marriage was failing miserably “Dunstan who saw in his brother’s degrading marriage…”
Although after, Godfrey did learn the lesson life had bought to him and was not dishonest. When he marries again, to Nancy, Godfrey tries his hardest to be honest to her and this marriage. They develop a lot of trust for each other after Godfrey tells Nancy about all of the sins that he committed. Even though Godfrey knows that he cannot have Eppie now, he still finds it in his heart to give Silas money and new furniture. The reason he does this is because of the guilt within, and he feels that this is the least that he can do. After all, Eppie really is his biological daughter. It is however Eppie’s decision to stay with Silas. When Silas assures her about the decision she is making by saying she has made the choice to stay with “poor folks, and with poor clothes and things, when you might ha’ had everything o’ the best.”
There is a character that Godfrey likes to help out in collecting in rent. This character is his father, Squire Cass. Although he collects the money for his father, he still lets his irresponsible, gambling brother borrow some money. He knows that this is not a good thing, yet he still lets his brother use up the money on useless things. Trust is an important obligation to have in a relationship with others. By marrying Molly, Godfrey lost the faith that his father had for him. The reason he had to get married to Molly was that he had a child with her.
On the other hand there was one character that satisfied the theme of duty. The name of this character is Silas Marner. He is honourable to all those that he has to pay duties to, especially Eppie. Eppie entered Silas’ life when he was vulnerable. He had just lost something that he believed to be his most valuable possession, his money. So, when he laid his eyes on Eppie he felt warmth within, which he had never felt in his life. “It seemed as if there were gold on the floor in front of the hearth.” He took Eppie in as his own child and cared for her. He fulfilled all of his duties and obligations to her. He cared for her and disciplined her for her own good. An example of the duty that Silas pays to Eppie is when Eppie has gone missing. Like any human being with a heart, this made Silas nauseous and Silas is filled with many different emotions. He is feeling very concerned and is feeling anxious to find her. Eventually, Silas finds Eppie playing in a puddle of water and he is filled with rejoice. He wants to punish Eppie, however his love for her is too strong to hurt her. He decides that it will be a better idea to bring up Eppie with love. This is an indication that Silas took his duties seriously.
Eppie also has an obligation to Silas. She has to fill the emptiness in his heart from the many losses that he had experienced previously. She has to try and make Silas believe that he does belong on this earth. She does precisely that and gives Silas someone to love for and she cares for Silas as much as he does for her. An example for one of the lovable actions towards Silas is when they go back to Lantern Yard. Eppie wanted to look for a place for Silas to sit down in case “her father’s strange attacks should come on”. Notice that Eppie also refers to Silas as her “father”. This is because of the love that they show for each other they have bonded like father and daughter.
Eppie and Silas were rewarded for carrying out their duties. They both could live a happy and prosperous life and had someone to care for and look out for. This was all that Silas could ask for. Having a loving father rewarded Eppie, because Godfrey, who was her biological father, did not want her. Later on in the story it shows that Eppie achieved another reward by marrying Aaron. This made Eppie ecstatic and Euphoric with happiness. After the marriage, Aaron had another duty in his life, which he had to attend to for the rest of his life. This is to love and care for Eppie. Even though the book does not go on to say how Eppie and Aaron get along, I feel that Aaron will fulfil his duties to Eppie and he will give her the love that she deserves. I say this as he has done his duties to her even before they got married.
The upbringing of Eppie and Aaron is completely different. Aaron was brought up by his mother, Dolly Winthrop to be a gentleman and Silas brought up Eppie in a lower class. Another perspective you could look at this is, because Aaron was of class, he was disciplined and Eppie was brought up with love.
Dolly Winthrop’s husbands name is Ben. She also had an obligation to him. She was also very honourable to her duty. She looks after her husband well. He is a busy man with his job as a wheelwright, and he needed someone to care for him. Dolly was this person that cared for him.
Dolly also had a duty to pay off to Silas. She is very considerate to the fact the Silas had just been burgled for his life savings. She wanted to make him happy again. She goes to Silas’ house with cake and they talk about religion. She did not have to do this, however she did because she is truthful to her obligations and duties in life. Although Silas is very upset about all of his money getting “robbed” he showed Dolly some appreciation when he “thanked her kindly” for the cakes she was holding for him. Even when Silas finds Eppie, Dolly is beside him, aiding him to bring her up and she helps to feed Eppie. She brings Aaron’s old clothes for Eppie, knowing that Silas could not afford to buy any clothes. This is another example of Dolly taking her life’s duties seriously. Dolly is not only just supportive to Silas financially, but emotionally too. When she sees that Silas is feeling left out because he was not bonding with Eppie, as he wanted to, Dolly tells Silas that Eppie’ love for him is far more than it is for her. This makes Silas feel better. Dolly in my opinion is a role model. I say this as she is one character that has shown in the novel that it is possible to do all of our duties. One does not always have to neglect their duties.
I think that it is fairly obvious and evident that the theme of duty plays a very prominent role in the novel. It is also clear that the people with money, power or strength are not the people that achieve happiness in the end. It is the people that take their obligations to others seriously.
It is also clear that the people that are neglecting their duties are getting punished, whether the punishment comes a week or even years later. Ironically the people that honoured their duties were rewarded in the end. This moral is not only relevant in the novel but in reality too.