“He leaned forward at last, and stretched forth is hand; but instead of the hard coins with the familiar resisting outline, his fingers encountered soft warm curls.”
This is when Eppie came into Silas’s life and from that moment on he took care of her and you could see they were right each other, just what each other needed.
“Marner stooped to lift it on his knee. It clung round his neck.”
“Silas pressed it to him, and almost unconsciously uttered sounds of hushing tenderness.”
Silas needed someone to keep him company and Eppie someone to take care of her. As Silas was always a boring old man hiding in his shell, this is what bought him to life, this young child of two.
“It’s a lone thing, and I’m a lone thing. My money’s gone – I don’t know where – and this is come from I don’t know where. I know nothing – I am partly
mazed.”
At this point Silas thinks he has more right than anyone to the child as the mother is dead and no father has been found. He thinks the baby has come to him from god and no one was going to take that baby away from him. Godfrey tries to tell Silas to let someone adopt her, but he was not having it, the baby was his and he was going to keep it.
“Till anybody shows they’ve a right to take her away from me,” said Marner. “ The mothers dead, and I reckon it’s got no father.”
Silas decided to name the child Eppie, she was a beautiful young girl and was very much different to everyone else in Raveloe, in more ways than one, her hair was two colours curly auburn and blonde, she was also a young girl without any parents (biological parents), but she did have Silas.
“A blonde dimpled girl of eighteen, who has vainly tried to chastise her curly auburn hair,”
He also knew the child had come to him, so he was not going to give it to anyone else. Even when he came to the Red House on the night he found the baby and someone tried to examine the child, Silas abruptly said he couldn’t part with it.
“No, no; I can’t part with it, I can’t let it go,” said Silas abruptly. “It’s come to me- I’ve a right to keep it.”
You could tell Silas was more content with Eppie than with the money. As he did not really spare a thought to the money after he found his new gold, Eppie. He probably completely forgot about it some days, but that would have been unlikely to see before he found Eppie.
“Sixteen years after Silas Marner had found his new treasures on the heart.”
The baby was Godfrey’s and the first time he saw the child properly. He was regretful as he had left his wife and child, in such a terrible states a couple of years back. But he was joyful as he has another chance to see his beautiful daughter.
“The wide-open blue eyes looked up at Godfrey’s without any uneasiness or sign of recognition: the child could make no visible audible claim on its father; and the father felt a strange mixture of feelings – a conflict and regret of joy.”
Eppie had sort of completely transformed his lifestyle to fit Eppie in; Silas even gave up his weaving slowly during which time Eppie was growing up. This would not have been possible for him to do under normal circumstances as he loved his job, and he loved to make money.
“So as he had nothing but what he worked for week by week, and when the weaving was going down too – for there was less and less flax spun.”
With Eppie he also tried to relax more, he did this by smoking his pipe; this is a new habit he had taken, as people of the village had advised him to as it helps him with his fits. They were also quite right with that, as he did not have many more fits after New Years Eve.
“A humble sort of habit of the new self which had been developed in him since he had found Eppie in his hearth.”
Eppie had also transformed him in such a way that he could talk to people more easily, before he used to be a shy weaver, but now he has more to live for in life. He talked to people like Dolly Winthrop more, before Eppie had arrived Silas could only find a few words to say to her, but after his daughter had come and changed him he could spend hours on end, talking to her about life in Lantern Yard and everything that happened to him.
“And as it grew more and more easy to open his
mind to Dolly Winthrop, he gradually communicated to her all he could describe of his early life.”
You can see why Eppie is such a bubbly loving character; she has transformed the lives of many people in Raveloe and especially on Silas. She could also have been seen as a younger version of Dolly Winthrop (the mother of Aaron and a very helpful lady in ever sense). Also on Aaron as he wanted to marry Eppie as he thought she was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
“And who is it as he’s wanting to marry?” said Silas with rather a sad smile. “Why, me, to be sure, daddy,” said Eppie, with a dimpling laughter, kissing her father’s
cheek; “ as if he’d want to marry anybody else!”
When Eppie was offered the chance to go and live with Godfrey and wife Nancy, she knew she would stay with Silas. Even though Nancy says to her that Godfrey has more rights than Silas, as he is the biological father. She respected Silas for everything he had done for her, bought her up in the best possible way.
“Father by blood must have claim above that of any foster-father.”
Eppie was probably the happiest person in Raveloe as she had everything she needed and wanted. She needed somebody to look after her in her younger years; this was taken care of by Silas, someone to love her so much, Silas also did this. So she could not accept the offer of Godfrey and Nancy Cass because she loved Silas too much. She did not care if he was poor she still stuck by Silas like Silas stuck by her.
“I’ll cleave to him as long as he lives.”
The significance of this story is that Silas Marner finds there is more to life than working all day counting his money. His contentment is established when an admirable diminutive girl is found lying in his house. This girl Eppie finds good in her father Silas Marner. Behind every dark cloud there is a silver lining, which is Eppie to Silas, Silas is the dark cloud and Eppie is the silver lining.
Eppie concludes the book by saying her and Silas are the happiest people in the world. I think she is right in that sense because they are two very simple people who have started to live life to the max and excel themselves, Silas did this when he first found Eppie and Eppie did this at an older age to help, her weak father through his older years.
“O father,” said Eppie, “what a pretty home ours is! I think nobody could be happier than we are.”
