At the end of Silas Marner, there is a feeling that justice has been done, that the bad have been punished and the good rewarded. Explain with reference to Silas Marner and Godfrey, how far you agree with this statement.

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At the end of Silas Marner, there is a feeling that justice has been done, that the bad have been punished and the good rewarded. Explain with reference to Silas Marner and Godfrey, how far you agree with this statement.

George Elliot uses dark and light ideas in each of the characters lives. She shows that too many rules darken Silas’ life, shown when he lived as a miser in Lantern Yard, which has high morals and is inward looking.  When Eppie is discovered by Silas, she brings light and happiness into his life. There are also many dark shadows in Godfrey’s life including; his dishonourable marriage, his concealed daughter, his brother who blackmails him and his series of debts. Light is returned to his life when his brother dies and he is able to tell his wife everything that he has hidden from her.

Lantern Yard is a closed community, with life driven by its rigid rules. Silas’ first injustice takes place in this religious neighbourhood, where his fits are seen as both a blessing and a curse, when it suits the inhabitants. “…How do I know what you may have done in the secret chambers of your heart, to give Satan an advantage over you?” Silas’ suffering begins when “the lots declared that Silas Marner was guilty,” leaving Silas with no faith in God or trust in his close friend, William Dane.  With his reputation destroyed,  “Poor Marner went out with that despair in his soul- that shaken trust in God and man, which is little short of madness to a loving nature.”  He is left feeling betrayed, with a knowing that injustice has occurred, and as a consequence of this he leaves Lantern Yard for a better life.

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Having lost his faith in God, Silas leads a life of despair and torment in Raveloe, until, one day he loses his money, which due to its ability to not let him down, he adored. “The sight of the empty hole made his heart leap violently, but the belief that his gold was gone could not come at once- only terror, and the egger effort to put an end to the terror.” To him, the stealing of the money is unjust until he finds “… a sleeping child- a round, fair thing, with soft yellow rings all over its head.” He finds ...

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