SIlas Marner

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        Fairytales are typically improbable stories, which tend to consist of fantastical elements and occurrences. It is a tale involving a series of motifs that take place in an unreal world, involving individualized characters with developed or flat personalities. In the novel, Silas Marner, it is evident that fairytale tends to conquer realism. Thus, Silas Marner contains many aspects of the fairytale and therefore lacks credibility to some readers.

        Eppie is a beautiful, orphan girl, who whose character does not portray any flaws; therefore she is presented as having a fairytale personality. Eppie is presented as a charming, golden-haired girl. Her beautiful golden hair obtains significance as it symbolizes purity, integrity, delight and innocence, which are all ideal qualities.

As a child in the story, even though she is significant, she does not play much of a role, other than being cute and juvenile. The older Eppie, does not go through a lot of change, hence her character does not tend to show much development through the story. However, one of the only times where she is depicted in having the realistic characteristics of loyalty, generosity, and lovingness, are shown in the scene in Chapter 19, where Godfrey, her biological father comes to Silas’s house, asking Eppie to come live with him and his wife. Nevertheless, Eppie refuses him and tells him that she will stay with Silas, and not leave his side, for he is the only father figure she has known all her life. As well, a big house and a rich lifestyle does not compel her to change her mind because Sila’s home and the lifestyle she lives is what she is use to, and she will also marry a workingman. Eppie expresses her feelings about Silas to her biological father:

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        "We’ve been used to be happy together every day, and I can't think o' no         happiness without him. And he says he'd nobody in the world till I was sent to         him, and he'd have nothing when I was gone. And he's took care of me and loved         me from the first, and I'll cleave to him as long as he lives, and nobody shall ever         come between him and me." [206]

Eppie’s fairytale character triumphs over her realistic character, as her realism is only evident during this particular scene in the novel, opposed to her character throughout ...

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