“…….Poor Marner went out with that despair in his soul- That shaken trust in God and man, which is a little short of madness to a loving nature.”
This shows he feels everyone has turned against him even God, the one person who he was truly committed to. He soon became lonely and sad which encouraged him to move to Raveloe. An isolated, rural, agricultural village, somewhere he felt he could hide away from his past and get on with his life. This is shown on page 10,
“…….in a stone cottage that stood among the nutty hedgerows near the village of Raveloe, and not far from the edge of a deserted stone-pit.”
This shows how much of an outcast Silas was. Raveloe was completely different from Lantern Yard. He is isolated from his neighbour hood and also seen as a suspicious foreigner, this was because of his strange accent and the fact he kept himself to himself. Another reason is that he had cataleptic fits and believed in witch craft people were weary of him as they were not used to this.
Silas has a completely different way of life in Raveloe compared to Lantern Yard. Now he has lost all of his reliance in the church and human beings, he stays well away from the church and talks to no-one. He also finds the church an alien religion. In Lantern Yard everyone would attend church every Sunday. It was different here the church did not dominate people’s lives. They visited church on holidays such as Christmas, Easter etc. Usually on Sundays it is most likely that the population of people will visit the local pub “The Rainbow”. But not Marner he stays well away, this all being down to William Dane betraying him.
Since moving to Raveloe Marner has been working as a linen weaver earning vast amounts of gold this is his only incentive for work. He enjoys the gold for company not for fortune, for something to love, something he can trust in, something that replaces God and man. One night when he is out his money and prize possession gets stolen. Marner is heartbroken and can’t believe anyone could do such a thing. His first reaction is to inform everyone so he charges into the rainbow and announces it. To start of with people find this a bit suspicious but soon start to feel sorry for him. These people include Justice Malam and Dolly Winthrope. They try to convince him to come to church and ask God for help. But he just shrugs them off and ignores their advice. He is completely devastated and feels as though everyone is getting at him. Although he ignores their advice he does start to talk a bit more and people soon warm to him.
Then New Years Eve came, this is when things changed the way in which Marner thought. After finding a little girl, which he later named Eppie, in his cottage his life changed dramatically. Although he ignored her once before this did not stop Dolly coming to persuade Marner to go to church, he felt he had to do this in order to make things right for Eppie. He started to believe that she was a gift from God and that she was a replacement for his Money. He thought this because he learned to love for others and not just his gold. Also the goldness of Eppie’s hair was a sign that he didn’t need the money for companionship because he now had her. Silas saw life in a different light, he wanted to give Eppie a normal upbringing so began to socialise and make friends just like he had done when he was in Lantern yard. He became a well respected member of Raveloe’s community and often went to church. Marner was living just for Raveloe and the love for his daughter. After Eppie becomes part of his life he soon restores his faith in humanity and in god. This is shown on page 199 when he says,
“……..I might come to think, I was forsaken again, and lose the feeling that God was good to me.”
This shows he has now learnt to rely on God once again despite everything in the past. (Eliot uses different words and sentences such as the one above to capture the reader’s attention so that they have an understanding what it is like in marner’s place, also to help with the reader’s imagination of the story. This is good as the reader can truly get in touch with the character). Now he has his precious Eppie, none of his past matters. Silas also shows he is content with life in Raveloe after Eppie’s biological father comes to claim her and she turns him down. He feels appreciated and loved. Because he feels so happy he is now ready to face Lantern Yard with Eppie in tow to show what his life used to be like.
They eventually reach Lantern Yard to find it has been totally obliterated, nothing is left. Shops have been knocked down and replaced by factories. Marner feels a hint of sadness but knows he has to move on, he is now completely integrated in Raveloe and shows this on Page 215,
“…….The old home’s gone, I’ve no home but this now.”
He has got away from his past and started a fresh, clean slate. He has gone from being a well liked sociable man, to an isolated outcast, to a suspicious foreigner and now a well respected member of his society. Marner’s main priority is Eppie. This is shown when the money is handed back to him and he says “….it takes no hold of me now.” This shows all of his love is concentrated on Eppie. His life has had many ups and downs but he has got on with it and in the end has become a much stronger person, with his faith in God and man restored. This is shown when he says,
“……Since the time the child was sent to me and I’ve come to love her as myself, I’ve had light enough to trusten by, and now she says she’ll never leave me, I think I shall trusten till I die.”
This puts his mind at ease that he will always have someone to love who will love him back.
All of these events have shown that Marner’s life has changed dramatically to make him a much stronger, reliable person.
