Explore the reasons why Eppie has such a profound effect on Marner.

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English Coursework: 'Silas Marner'.

Explore the reasons why Eppie has such a profound effect on Marner.

'Silas Marner' is a novel, set in the late Eighteenth Century having a time span of thirty years. It is about a man named Silas Marner that experiences traumatic events, which change his character as the novel progresses. This includes being falsely accused of theft, passing through a phase of obsession with gold, and adopting a baby child. Since his arrival in Raveloe, Marner's physical appearance and taciturn nature have led him being considered somewhat of an outcast by his fellow villagers:

It was fifteen years since Silas Marner had first come to Raveloe; he was then simply a pallid young man, with prominent, short-sighted brown eyes, whose appearance would have had nothing strange for people of average culture and experience, but for the villagers near whom he had come to settle it had mysterious peculiarities...

The atmosphere that Silas Marner created was somewhat disturbing. Echoes of demon-worship, and superstitious goings-on lived in the village, surrounding Marner, giving him this reputation. As well as being a new comer to the village his profession, a weaver, was traditionally associated with loneliness and superstition. He was also from the north. Travel beyond one's immediate vicinity would be highly unusual for most people and hence anyone from outside the locality would be considered an outsider. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the locals did not associate themselves with Marner, and feared him for the aforementioned reasons. Marner, being educated, was able to cure many diseases. However because of the villagers' old-fashioned, superstitious beliefs, they avoided him:

In this way it came to pass that those scattered linen weavers... were to the last regarded as aliens by their rustic neighbours...

Marner, being an educated man, had the knowledge to cure many diseases. However because of the villagers' old-fashioned, superstitious beliefs, they avoided him. They were pessimists and associated skilled people with magic:

'To the peasants of old times, the world outside their own direct experience was a region of vagueness and mystery... especially if he had any reputation for knowledge, or showed and skill in handicraft'.

The community's sense of alienation and emotional stasis is reinforced with this quotation:

...their imagination is almost barren of the images that feed desire and hope, but is all overgrown by recollections that are a perpetual pasture to fear.

As we read on in the novel we discover that the villagers attitude changes towards Marner, firstly when his gold was stolen and secondly the coming of Molly's daughter whom Marner is keen to adopt.
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Marner lived alone in isolation in his humble cottage. But as Marner continued his work as a weaver, he became closer with some of the locals. Soon the villagers accepted him, as their views on Marner slowly changed:

Marner was both sane and honest...

Not only did he become close to the locals; he also became fixated on the amount of money he earned. In Marner's own solitude, he was like a spinning insect awaiting its time for counting its rewards:

He handled them, he counted them, till their form and colour were like ...

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