The Osgood family were also of high status in the village, they were ‘…understood to be of timeless origin’. Although Mrs. Osgood ‘merely owned the farm’, she was looked up to by many of the villagers. She held a high position in the Church, as did Mr. Macey, a tailor and the former parish clerk, but they both treated the Squire like a Lord.
The upper and lower classes show a distinct difference in attitude, behaviour and in general daily life. This is clearly shown at the New Years Eves Dance. ‘A few privileged villagers’ were allowed to watch the upper class dancing and socialising. The lower class were only left to dream of being able to dance and be part of the ceremony. Even in daily life, ‘the more important customers drank spirits and sat nearest the fire’. However, there was still a strong sense of community in Raveloe. When Silas’ money was stolen, the first place he went was the Rainbow Pub. Silas saw the Rainbow as the best place to go to get his problem solved. He saw it as ‘a place of luxurious resort’ and it was ‘where he could most speedily make his loss public’. It was clear ‘that there was a general feeling in the village that for the clearing up of this robbery there must be a great deal done’.
Silas getting robbed was also a very important stage in the plot of the novel. At first the people drinking in the Rainbow had a ‘slight suspicion’ of Silas, but this ‘melted away before the convincing simplicity of his distress’. After the robbery, although the villagers began to trust Silas, they still held slight doubts of him being inter-linked with the Devil. They once thought of Silas as just having ‘ill will’ but it ‘was now considered as mere craziness’. Some villagers believed because he had lost his money, he’d lost his Devilish powers too, so were not as fearful of him. Many villagers were still too afraid to speak to Silas but Mrs. Winthrop and Mr. Macey approached him, trying to convince him to go to church, speaking to him with sympathy and kindliness, in a ‘soothing persuasive tone’. George Elliot makes it clear they were both very willing to help him and were ready to accept Silas into the village of Raveloe. They even took ‘the trouble of calling at his cottage’ to speak to him.
Raveloe had evolved from centuries of interdependence. It was an almost isolated village; it was a ‘barren parish, lying on the outskirts of civilization’. George Elliot describes Raveloe as a very secluded place and the villager’s feelings on ‘the world outside their own direct experience was a region of vagueness and mystery’. This may have influenced their attitude towards Silas. The small village held many superstitions and people tended to believe whatever they were told.
When Silas came to Raveloe, he kept himself to himself, as his past experience with people in Lantern Yard had just let to disloyalty. His medical condition also shocked people and exaggerated tales led both children and adults to be wary of him. When Silas had a fit, his ‘eyes were like a dead mans’ and this to many people was seen as being taken by the Devil. One day when Silas was out walking, he spotted that the ‘cobblers wife’; Sally Oates, was ill and had the symptoms of heart disease and Dropsy. In Lantern Yard, because of these diseases, ‘he has witnesses the precursors of his mother’s death’. Silas was aware of a herb (foxglove) that would help Sally Oates to heal and as ‘he felt such a rush of pity’ for her and remembered his mothers suffering, he ‘promised Sally Oates to bring her something that would cure her’.
The rumour that Silas could heal people quickly spread through the village. Silas had felt for the first time in Raveloe, ‘a strong sense of unity between his past and present life’, but this feeling soon passed. The villagers now thought of him as a healer and ‘his cottage was suddenly beset by mothers who wanted him to charm away the whooping cough’, or men who wanted him to cure ‘the knots in their hands’. Although this would have brought riches to Silas, he did not want to lie to the villagers and ‘he had never known an impulse to falsity’. The more people that approached Silas, the more fractious he became. This was clear to the villagers and they thought he was just refusing to help, even though he knew the answers to their problems. Because of this, he received ‘irritated glances’ from all angles and ‘made his isolation more complete’.
After spending fifteen years cut off from the community, being seen as an outsider, Silas was gradually accepted into Raveloe. When Silas was out on New Years Eve something caught his eye. The glimmer of gold drew him closer to the sight, after his recent infatuation with money. The loss of it had left him with no purpose in life. As he moved closer to what he thought was gold, ‘his heart began to beat violently’ and he outstretched his hand. Silas thought he had found his money, but when he reached out, he felt ‘soft warm curls’ against his skin and he realised what he’d found was a child. This child he’d found reminded him of his little sister whom ‘he carried about in his arms for a year before she died’. Memories filled Silas’ mind of Lantern Yard and reminded him of the friends and family he’d once had. To Silas this child seemed like ‘a message come to him from that far-off line’. Silas’ heart began to melt and he took the child under his wing. He named the child Eppie. Eppie was actually Godfrey’s child, mothered by Molly Farren. Molly Farren died that winters night, leaving Silas to find her in the snow. Godfrey however could not accept the child as she was a secret and he did not want to ruin his chances with Nancy Lammeter (his wife-to-be,) so was quite happy for Silas to look after Eppie. She brought great joy to his life and also brought him closer to the people of Raveloe.
‘Dolly Winthrop…was the most acceptable to Marner’ when he found Eppie. She brought him some clothes for her, some ‘little petticoats’ and she ‘patched and darned’ anything she thought could be of use to Silas. Silas also began to ‘identify the Raveloe religion with his old faith’. He made ‘himself as clean and tidy as he could’, for Eppies Christening. ‘Silas began now, to think of Raveloe life entirely of Eppie’, instead of money. Finding Eppie was the turning point for Silas. She was the reason, along with losing his money, for him placing his trust back in people again. ‘The coins he earned afterwards seemed irrelevant’ and people gradually began to mean much more to him than money ever could. Although some people were still wary of Silas, most accepted him, especially the Godfrey and Nancy.
Silas was finally accepted as a villager. Silas’ money was eventually found, when the lake was drowned out, but he did not go back to his old ways, as his love for Eppie had grown too strong. Many years later, when Eppie was almost eighteen, Godfrey told his wife, Nancy, that Eppie was his daughter. They could not have children, so decided to tell Eppie the truth and see if she would live with them instead of Silas. Godfrey and Nancy went to Silas’ cottage and told Eppie about her mother. They asked her to go and live with them in the life of luxury, but she turned down their offer. She told them she would ‘have no delight in life anymore if she was forced to go away from my father…and nobody shall ever come between me and him’. Eppie was Silas’ world-his reason for living and without her, his life would be worthless. Silas had finally been accepted into Raveloe and he thought ‘it’d brought a blessing on himself by acting like a father to a lone, motherless child’.
Silas Marner was written about nineteenth century rural life. The way Silas was treated when he came to Raveloe was not unusual. It was very unlikely for people to travel far from their own towns or villages, so it would be a rare occasion if somebody new arrived to the village. It would be likely that people would be wary of them, as there was probably a reason for them leaving their own town. As the villages were so small in the nineteenth century, everybody knew everybody else and their business-if there was news of any interest (true of false) it was almost guaranteed that by the following day the whole village would know. For example, when Silas healed Sally Oates she had ‘raised…much importance amongst the neighbours’ that it ‘became a matter of general discourse’ and ‘his cottage was soon beset’.
Women in the nineteenth century could not hold a very high position in the community, such as the squire. They were supposed to stay indoors and look after the children, although they were allowed to help out in the Church. Upper Class women were supposed to sit pretty and prim and not really do much. Lower class women were just merely not considered as important. They were left to get on with their lives and help their husbands at home. Silas was a lower class man, but he did eventually gain respect from a lot of people, as he was a weaver and anybody who had a trade would be important in the village, as they were probably the only one nearby who could do that particular trade.
George Elliot portrayed nineteenth century life in a way that showed how important people really were and that money was not as much as it was made out to be. When Silas’ friends were disloyal to him in Lantern Yard, he was ‘stunned by despair’ and his whole world just fell apart. He ‘departed from the town’ and travelled to Raveloe, to try and begin a new life. In Raveloe he was an outsider and turned to money, but when his riches were stolen he had to find something else to depend upon-and this was Eppie. Silas, once more had turned back to people and he’d found what he’d once lost, love. I feel the story holds a strong moral to it, money can’t buy you love.