How does the community of Raveloe respond to Silas at key moments in the novel?

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How does the community of Raveloe respond to Silas at key moments in the novel?

When Silas Marner arrived in Raveloe the villagers did not show a very hospitable welcome to him, they saw him as an outsider, ‘an alien-looking man’.  This was the normal reaction to new comers in Raveloe.  It was a small village, ‘where many of the old echoes lingered, undrowned by new voices’.  The village based itself mainly around the church, which ‘once showed the summits of its social life’.  Silas however was not a religious man, ‘he invited no comer to step across his door-sill and he never strolled into the village’.  From the way Silas had been betrayed in his old town, Lantern Yard, he tried to keep as far away from people as possible.  As he had nothing to do with his days, his life slowly progressed into an obsession with work.  Silas was a weaver and ‘he worked far on into the night’, to finish what he had to, for the following day.  He was working so much; he gained a lot of money.  ‘Silas was paid in Gold’ and ‘how the guineas shone as they came out of the dark leather pouch’.  Silas’ life soon began to revolve around money, so he made no effort to make friends, as he felt no need for them.  In effect, money had replaced the friends he once had.  It seemed that Silas felt safe with money, but with people he was afraid and vulnerable of them being untrustworthy.  

Status was seen as important in Raveloe, ‘the greatest man in Raveloe was Squire Cass’.  He was ‘used to the presupposition that his family…were the oldest and the best’.  However, as important as the Squire was in Raveloe, he would be nothing in a larger town or city, where there were higher-class people, but in Raveloe, ‘his opinion was not disturbed by comparison’.  The Squire lived ‘in the large red house’.  It had a ‘handsome flight of stone steps’ and was ‘opposite the Church’.  The Squire had two sons, Godfrey and Dunstan (Dunsey.)  Both of them lived luxurious lives, but both also had their secrets.  The villagers respected Godfrey; he was ‘a fine open-faced, good-natured young man’, who tried to convince everybody he was perfect.  Dunstan, on the other hand, was quite the opposite.  He was known to ‘like his drink’ and not to be as respectable as Godfrey.  The villagers thought that, Godfrey was a single man, but in actual fact, he was married to a drunk and a drug addict of very low class, Molly Farrren.  Dunstan ‘saw his brothers degrading marriage the means of gratifying at once his jealous hate and his cupidity’.  Dunstan knew about Molly Farren all along.  He encouraged Godfrey to marry her and Dunstan often used this ‘secret’ of Godfrey’s to blackmail him.  As much as Dunstan threatened Godfrey he never told anyone about Molly Farren or his child, ‘I could tell the Squire…but, you see…I do not do it’.

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The Osgood family were also of high status in the village, they were ‘…understood to be of timeless origin’.  Although Mrs. Osgood ‘merely owned the farm’, she was looked up to by many of the villagers.  She held a high position in the Church, as did Mr. Macey, a tailor and the former parish clerk, but they both treated the Squire like a Lord.    

The upper and lower classes show a distinct difference in attitude, behaviour and in general daily life.  This is clearly shown at the New Years Eves Dance.  ‘A few privileged villagers’ ...

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