Silas bases his whole existence around working and collecting the money. He counts his money every night and cares for it like a person, “He handled them, he counted them, till their form and colour were like the satisfaction of a thirst to him; but it was only in the night, when his work was done”. Half way through the novel Silas’s money is stolen by the rebel of the upper class Cass family, Dunsey. This again makes him lose faith in life and made him break down as if a member of his family had died. Without his money Silas has nothing. Silas searches for his money, he even searches at The Rainbow, the local pub, but to no avail. This magnified Silas’s belief that God and the world were unjust. At this point in the book we have an enormous amount of pity for Silas. George Eliot telling us Silas’s previous misfortunes emphasizes this. Not yet in the Novel has there been a happy moment in Silas’s life, this was used by Eliot to portray just how low and sad Silas was.
The name of the pub does suggest a glimmer of hope though as he may just find his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This is the first piece of symbolism, which George Eliot has put in; all these symbols reflect things that are going to happen to Silas and how he’s going to change. Silas entering the pub is a turning point in Silas’s social status. He no longer is confined to his small cottage, he has ventured out. The loss of the money from this angle could be seen as an advantage. Silas now is speaking to people, he is likely to make friends or at least acquaintances, and this means he is more likely to be accepted within the village.
As he has just lost all of his money, which he considers to be his only love to one of the Cass family, in return he gains one of their children. This is one of many examples where Eliot has used “what comes around goes around”. Godfrey the brother of Dunsey had an illegitimate child, having this child enter the book not only changes Silas’s life but it changes everyone else’s mind about Silas. This is a show of fate and this is one of the main morals of the story. Silas had lost all hope in the world and the fact that he was saved from this suggests another piece of fate as he was not guilty of the crime he committed in Lantern Yard.
A woman dies near Silas’ house, Molly, at the stone pits. She is a dirty and messy woman, but she is Godfrey Cass’s wife, “her dingy rags, with her faded face”. Eliot uses symbolism again here as the woman dies under a thorn bush, but this thorn bush has pretty flowers. This shows the situation of the woman as Godfrey thought she was pretty but never thought she would get pregnant, this means he now has to pay money to her, she has ruined some of his chances with Nancy, and it means his brother, Dunsey could black mail him, it all looks pretty on the outside but inside its prickly and thorny. Little does Silas know that the death of this woman could bring him happiness. Again fate comes into play, the death of something for the rebirth and happiness of something else. This made Silas’s life benefit in a major way with the introduction of a new character.
The weather also reflects the death of Molly Godfrey’s wife. It is snowing and Eliot uses Pathetic Fallacy to predict the future. The bad stormy weather shows that something bad is going to happen, for example, a death. Snow also shows purity and innocence, this shows the innocence of Molly’s child, the next character to enter the novel. Eliot could have used a character like Molly to show the way women were treated in her opinion, the fact that Molly was used and then left could reflect what Eliot thought about how women were used and treated in society. The way that molly looked terrible but all the elements of her life added up to happiness a child, a husband and an income Eliot could of used this to show that all the women dressed up in riches and gold do not have these elements of happiness and possibly don’t live there own lives. The lack of responsibility and the way they were looked down upon just for being a woman. Godfrey only married Molly because he got her pregnant Eliot could have used this to show how much women were just items and that love did not come into it.
The innocence of Eppie reflects on the innocence of Silas when he was in Lantern Yard. Eliot makes the child a symbol of innocence, therefore a symbol of acceptance. With Silas associated with this, it shows a possibility for him, also, to be accepted into the community. The time of year is also used to reflect and stress what is happening, it is New Years Eve. This shows the end of the old and beginning of the new. This shows the end of one life for Silas and the beginning of a new better life for him, “New Year’s Eve, and that he must sit up and hear the old year rung out and the new rung in”. This quote sums up the change in Silas, out with the old, and in with the new.
Silas is having a fit when Eppie enters the house; this is where the fits work to his advantage. If he were not in one of his fits he would have stopped her entering. Eppie is about two years of age and able to toddle. Straight away Silas became attached to Eppie, as “Eppie’s golden hair, mistaken for the gold he had lost, was that of a child who became a treasure more precious than gold.” Not only does Eppie remind him of the gold or even replace the gold, it reminds him of his childhood when he used to be happy. Eppie was the name of his mother; this was used by Eliot to show that Eppie was a source of happiness, like his mother was. Eliot uses Silas’s unhappy past to stress just how low he was before Eppie arrived, and how things can change very rapidly.
Now Silas has Eppie not only does he gain a light he gains friends and people wanting to help him for Eppie’s sake. The “light” of Eppie was reflected in the novel with him leaving the light of “Lantern” Yard, this was clever foreshadowing by Eliot. The main friend is Dolly; she also has a young child, Aaron. Her and Silas become good friends, as Dolly Winthrop wants to help Silas with Eppie. Silas ends up telling Dolly everything about Lantern Yard she is the first person he tells. This shows that Silas is moving on, being able to confront what he’s been hiding from for so long shows a change in Silas. Trusting Dolly with this is also a break through; it shows he’s starting to have faith in life again. Eliot uses Silas’s past again to emphasize but in the opposite way, before it was to show his sadness now to show he’s moving on and happiness.
Dolly becomes an influential figure for Silas helping him look to the future and the future for Eppie. She manages to convince Silas that for Eppie to have a proper childhood she must go to church. Silas starts to go to church. He now has the church, faith, friends and even a family. Going to church just improves his situation rather than like before when it ruined it. Silas makes new friends and becomes a member of the community; a thing at the beginning we thought was impossible. Not only does Silas make friends Eppie does, anything that benefits Eppie and makes her happy makes Silas pleased. Now that Eppie has entered his life Silas has had less fits. This was used by Eliot to accentuate how much Eppie really is helping him, not just mentally but physically. This is Eliot finally saying that with Eppie around he has regained his belief in God, the community and most importantly trust.
Not only does Eppie make friends, now that sixteen years have passed Eppie has found a man she wants to marry, Aaron, Dolly’s son. This again makes Silas very happy as it means Eppie will have a future. He does also worry though that Eppie will leave him and again he will be an outcast and be lonely. His fears finish when he finds out that Eppie plans to live with Aaron in Silas’s house, with him. Aaron he feels is a good husband for Eppie he also doesn’t want to be a burden to her, again he is thinking of her future “I like to think as you’d have somebody else besides me” this shows that Silas is getting old but still very much cares for Eppie. Not only has Aaron falling in love with Eppie and vice versa but he has also helped out Silas, he helped build the extension on there cottage paid for by the guilty Godfrey and produced a wonderful garden for Silas and Eppie’s and soon to be his home.
Just to verify that Eppie cares a lot about Silas and makes him happy she refuses to go and live with her real father. This not only shows the reader that Eppie loves her father dearly, “For I should have no delight I’ life any more if I was to go away from my father”, it shows that Silas has finally gained back what he had before, a family. Nancy Godfrey’s wife says, “ you’ll be a treasure to me” this phrase was used by Eliot to show just what Silas had thought she was at the beginning, a replacement for his money and that now Eppie is his and is the opposite to what Nancy thinks and wants her for. Yet again the idea of fate is apparent with Nancy wanting Eppie for personal gain rather than love and Silas for love so Silas gets Eppie in the end.
Nearing the end of the story, Silas decides to go back to Lantern Yard with Eppie. When he arrives, he finds a factory has replaced the village. Eliot uses a factory in the place of Lantern Yard to show how the world has moved on, Silas’s life as well as industry and technology. She also has Lantern Yard gone as it proves finally to Silas that there is no going back and that the past really is behind him. The church he used to belong to no longer exists and the people he once loved and lost have been buried. Silas is free from the torment of his past life and now truly able to be happy.
Silas Marner is a tale of overcoming obstacles in life, its main genre by the end is hope but at the beginning this theme is not apparent. Silas is a character everyone is able to relate with; he has troubles and problems but still manages to over come everything to be a better person. It also carries the moral that “what goes around comes around” which is portrayed by Eliot in many ways using symbolism, setting and personal experiences. The last line of the novel is “I think nobody could be happier than we are.” I think that this sentence is a wonderful conclusion and expresses just how much Silas has changed since the beginning.
