Silas is greatly disheartened by the events at the church and believes that if god existed he would have helped him; Silas becomes an atheist and never goes to church again. When he moves to Ravaloe he doesn’t make an effort to become integrated into the community and people don’t know him, and rumors start up. The children follow him and call him names. People believe he knows magic and is in connection with the devil.
The first robbery in the story involves the theft of money and the second theft involves money. The story is very money orientated, Dunstan Cass has no money, Godfrey Cass has no money and Silas has his stolen away from him. The story shows how money brings more bad than good.
Dunstan and Godfrey Cass lose there mother and Dunstan doesn’t take it very well and ends up being an alcoholic, gambling man with no money and always in the red. Dunstan deserves to be pitied because it is obvious that the loss of his mother is too much for him and has driven him to alcohol. This is very sad. He needed someone to put him back on track which only a mother could really do as his father isn’t very good at being a father.
Godfrey Cass at first comes across as the more responsible of the brothers but when u find out his secret about molly his secret wife u realise they are both as silly as each other. Godfrey loves his child ‘Eppie’ and gives all his money to molly to spend on cloths and accommodation for Eppie but she spends it all on opium. The Cass family has money which is what all the other families want but don’t have. But the Cass family has more problems than the poorer families. The novel shows that money isn’t everything. Godfrey has brought his sorrow upon him because he should have brought molly to his home and told people he was getting married and then he wouldn’t have been in the state he is. Therefore Godfrey doesn’t deserve as much sympathy as his brother Dunstan.
Mollies background is unknown and why she has turned to drugs is also unknown but Eppie is an innocent child and deserves better. If her father (Godfrey Cass) had taken her into his home then she wouldn’t of been subjected to such poverty. Eppie deserves a lot of pity but she doesn’t know any different so she isn’t missing anything.
One night cold night molly decides that she will take Eppie to see her granddad (Godfrey’s father). Molly dies in the snow outside Silas’s house. Silas takes the Eppie to the Cass house hold where they are having a party. Godfrey realises what has happened and goes to sort things out. He makes sure Eppie has everything she needs. He takes mollies wedding ring of her hand before they take of her body away. Now Godfrey returns to the party were he asks Nancy to marry him. This shows that Godfrey had no feeling for Molly anymore. Silas sees Eppie as his own now because she came to him. The villagers help Silas by giving him bedding and clothing for her. Silas is now more integrated into the community. Godfrey makes sure Silas has everything he needs to look after Eppie. Silas is now every happy and has forgotten his past.
Now Molly is dead Godfrey is free to marry Nancy. He marries her and Nancy is pregnant but she loses the baby at birth and there relationship grows apart. Finally godfrey comes clean and tells Nancy that Eppie if his daughter and he tries to get her back. But Eppie doesn’t want to leave Silas.
Silas gets his money back when Eppie is in her teens. Eppie is given the chance to leave and move into the Cass house but doesn’t want to leave Silas. Silas’s life now revolves around Eppie and he cares for her and provides with her. Eppie can’t believe her eyes when the money is returned. Although Silas loves Eppies he was willing to let her go and live in the Cass house because he said it was her choice, this shows that he really cares for her and what the best for her. Silas is the best father in the novel and he does it with out his money or any real help from a motherly figure.
Godfrey and Eppie although related and look similar, have been brought up differently and Eppie respects what she has and enjoys what she has got. Godfrey takes things for granted and is a grumpy moody person.
Godfrey and Dunstan’s dad didn't do much to help them but Silas look after his child and she grew up knowing what was what and how to treat people and how to make the most of what she had. Victorian family’s where brought up by nannies and servants rather than the parents so they weren’t much of a family.
The wedding is the last thing in the play and it shows how Silas is happy in the end and is now part of the community. It shows that Eppies has brought him love and happiness not his money. The play finishes were it starts, in the church.
Silas goes through a lot in the play and never does anything wrong. I think this is why Silas deserves the most pity out of all the characters. Silas takes everything that is thrown at him and never gives up totally. He is the strongest character in the novel and he deserves all the pity he can get.
