However Silas’ life changes dramatically after his gold is mysteriously stolen.
Dunsey Cass knowing that Silas owned a fair amount of money went to Silas’ house to ask for a lone. However, when he arrived Silas was out on one of his errands and had left the door unlocked, as he wasn’t expecting anyone to call over. Dunsey realising his opportunity went into Silas’ house and stole his gold from under the hearth leaving Silas penniless. Silas' despair precipitates him into seeking help from the villagers, which begins a slow reintegration into society for him. For a short while, grief-stricken, Silas carries on weaving, without the comfort of handling and counting his treasure after a days work. In spite of this on Christmas Eve, Molly, opium-addicted dies in the snow near his cottage. As Silas was staring out the door he fell into one of his cataleptic fits. With the door ajar, Molly’s baby, Eppie toddles in and lies on the warm hearth, on top of where Silas’ precious gold once lay. When he gains “sensibility” returned he was unaware of the little treasure that has just strolled into his home, and “continued the action he had arrested”. As he made his way to his chair, “to his blurred vision” it seemed as if there was gold lying on the hearth. This is probably the most symbolic twist in the story. When he saw the small bundle in front of the fire, he
“…fell on his knees to examine the marvel…”
Using the phrase “fell on his knees,” indicates to us that Silas is beginning to gain his faith once again, as this phrase if often associated with religious pretences. Also when Eliot states, “ it was a sleeping child” that also gives and image of Christianity, baby in a manger, Jesus! Eppie’s hair was golden curls, he hair symbolises Silas’ worldly treasure. When Silas left Lantern Yard his purpose in life had changed, it was to collect gold. Physical gold. His need to accumulated wealth replaced God. When his gold was stolen his purpose in life was taken with it. When the baby, Eppie, comes into the house and places herself in the exact place where the gold once lay, she is now taking the gold’s place. So, Eppie is now taking the place of the gold, which took the place of god. Eppie is now the replacement of faith (symbolism).
This is when we begin to see a change in Silas. He changes from a hermit to a loving parent. He experiences a gradual transformation parallel to the development of Eppie who he begins raising:
"As the child's mind was growing into knowledge, his mind was growing into memory”.
With the changes brought by Eppie, the story of the alienated miser, hardened for self-protection, and cut off from him and others, becomes a story of rebirth. Silas returns to life after a death-like existence. The beginning of the journey to regain his lost self and establish connections with the community is a journey back to love.
Silas faces many intrusive characters within the book. First Dunsey who steals his gold leading him further into seclusion and secondly Eppie who brings him out of it.
The first sign of Silas’ growing involvement in the community was when people began to visit him at his home. Silas began to grow increasingly close with a woman from the village named Dolly. The stage in which his isolation was broken was when he finally cried out he had been robbed and began to let people into his life once more. His first encounter with Dolly was when she invited herself around to his house with a couple of lard cakes, which she had baked the previous day. Dolly along with Eppie played a big role in helping Silas’ recovery as, Dolly was a cheery woman who seemed to never give up on Silas, and Eppie grew to love him and he her. Dolly continued to attend Silas’ house and help him out with little duties. Such as clothing, when Godfrey gave Silas a half-guinea which he showed her in aid for her to help him buy clothes for Eppie. But she offered to give Silas Aaron’s old clothing saying:
“…there’s no call to buy, no more nor a pair o’ shoes…”
In disciplining Eppie, Silas found it very hard. As Eppie grew increasingly mischiefious when she became 3. “she developed a fine capacity for mischief.” Dolly suggested that he “shut her up once I’ the coal hole.” Silas thought about this for some time and to him:
“…it was painful to him to
hurt Eppie, [lest she should love him less for it].”
The recognitions that Silas doesn’t want to hurt Eppie in turn for her love for him going thin, suggests to us that Silas has grown fond of Eppie, to us the reader it suggests that he has taken the father figure to heart and brought it totally home. He doesn’t want Eppie to abandon him just like everything else does one way or another. He wants to do everything in his means to keep her with him.
But the next day Silas put her in the coalhole expecting it to have a lasting effect, however to Silas’ dismay, Eppie enjoyed being in there. No longer had Silas dressed and bathed her from her first encounter with the coalhole, than she had gone back in there. At the end of chapter 14. Eliot describes in an intrusive tone angels who lead people away from destruction (biblical context once again). This fragment of the chapter is describing Eppie. Eppie is guiding Silas away from destruction, just like Jesus came to earth to save mankind from sin. So firstly, Eppie symbolises Jesus and secondly, she symbolises Silas being brought back into the community and being accepted.
As the years go by, 16 yrs. Eppie and Aaron (Dolly’s son), fall in love. Aaron proposes to Eppie, she bought it up with Silas in a casual tone. Perhaps not to alarm him in any way. When she tells him this is seems sad, for he doesn’t want her to leave him, for him to be lonesome once again. But Eppie had other ideas, she and Aaron had been talking about the arrangements and was planning on all living together, Silas, Eppie and himself for him not to be taking Eppie away. This shows how he had become accepted. Before Eppie nobody would have thought of moving to live in with him. Eppie had brought out the best in Silas that everyone had grown to appreciate. People began to enjoy his company.
There is also another analogy within the book. Silas’ eyesight, due to his day-by-day weaving his became short sighted, unable to see beyond arms reach. But the appearance of Eppie Silas’ eyesight becomes much better part two of the story. This is due to him getting out more and not spending all hours weaving. Weaving has become dim, as it is no longer as important as it was when he had nothing else. Marner had been restricting himself and causing himself to become isolated. He had a very blinkered view on life and was quite narrow-minded. His miserliness etc. He is beginning to see clearly literally and illiterately. His life is expanding as parallel to his eyesight.
Near the end of the story Silas’ money is found in a river scattered near the skeleton of Dunsey who had fallen into the river. When Silas is reunited with his gold he exclaims “it takes no hold of me now” he explains that if Eppie were to leave him now he would think that he had been forsaken again and “lose the feeling that God was good to me.” This is a turning point, it tells us that Silas’ heart is no longer stead fast on gold, it tells us other things are of more importance to him, and also that his faith in God has been restored.
The pastorale method of writing is well-used one. It is used when a writer is idolising the country. George Eliot uses this a lot throughout her story. She uses it to explain Raveloe, and also Lantern Yard.
Conclusion
Eliot's ‘Silas Marner’ is engulfed with religious overtones, class divisions, and interwoven human emotions. Life-mysteries such as luck and fate are examined. The contrast between Silas' urban home in Lantern Yard - pushed aside by the Industrial Revolution - and the bustling village of Raveloe, representing an unchanging, personable and rural society, shows Eliot's indifference.
Eliot's descriptive style and the fact that she chose to feature in her novel the lives of ordinary labourers makes her, different to other writers. ‘Silas Marner’ teaches the values of honesty, kindness, and courage. is still quite a drastic, stimulating, vision of the world.
Symbols are a key aspect of the novel ‘Silas Marner’. Eliot uses them to help develop and intensify the plot of the story. Each symbol represents major themes of the story. Some of the symbols she uses are so discrete; it makes the reader wonder if she meant them to be so.
‘Silas Marner’ is a well-written book although not of my taste. I would recommend it as it has a well-favoured plot and atmosphere, which surrounds it. Whilst reading it you can get so involved you feel part of the novel, due to the well descriptive technique which Eliot Uses. Whilst reading you get every detail of the surroundings. A clear picture of rural life. A clear understanding of how easily people can become outcasts and how a single mishap can cause a world of good.
