Every member of the Church believed Silas was guilty, even his fiancée, Sarah. Because of this, she ended her relationship with Silas, even though they were engaged. Silas finally had enough of Lantern Yard, so he decided to move on to another village, and he ended up in Raveloe. Because he never went to Church, people rejected him, and they thought he worshipped Satan, not God.
Although there were other characters in Silas Marner, only a few of them played a big part to the life in Raveloe, for instance, Molly. She was a bad person, and led a bad life and her punishment for leading a bad life, was death. Death is a punishment for someone who has done something drastically wrong; it is the end to a person’s life. So this shows that the wicked are always punished.
There were main characters in Silas Marner. They all had big parts, and they really showed what life was like in Raveloe. Godfrey Cass was the Squire’s son. He had one brother, called Dunstan. The two brothers were not alike at all. They were very different.
Dunstan was charming, and well mannered. His nickname, was Dunsey, which he was known as. He wasn’t really like that much by the other villagers, because they were always concerned that he would turn out to be like his brother.
Godfrey Cass, brother of Dunsey, son of the Squire. Godfrey was physically strong, but morally weak. He is characterised by “ natural irresolution and moral cowardice”. He is tempted to tell his father about his secret marriage with Molly, but he was set to marry Nancy Lammeter, and even though he does like her very much, he would still have the burden of his marriage between him and Molly. He does want to tell his father everything, but he cannot stand the prospect of working for a living, being “ equally disinclined to dig and to beg”. Godfrey knew that if he told his father about the marriage, then his father would probably disinherit him. If that happened, Godfrey would be lost. Godfrey does regret getting married, and he wished he had told his father beforehand. In Silas Marner, George Eliot shows the lack of love and affection Godfrey and Dunstan had in their upbringing. Godfrey is a good man, but there is something selfish about him and his nature. Godfrey had a main part in Silas Marner; one of the parallel plots focuses on his life. Nobody knows about his secret marriage with Molly, apart from his brother, who said that only by bribery he would not tell his father.
Another strong character, Dolly Winthrop, represents Christianity and Religion in Raveloe. Dolly is a very mild, very accepting character. She is a patient woman. Dolly wasn’t that clever, but she knew what she pricked into her lard cards was meaningful because the symbols were used at church. Dolly usually visited Silas on a regular basis, with her young son, Aaron. Dolly advised Silas that he would feel a lot happier again if he went to church occasionally. Dolly then asked her son, Aaron to sing a Holy Christmas carol to Silas hoping to tempt him into going to church, but Silas did not know any carols! Silas listens to Dolly’s advice, because he knows her advice is kindly meant but he is too miserable to take any notice,
George Eliot uses a lot of speech in Silas Marner to describe the characters. She does this to try to show the difference in class, by how the villagers use their language. Some of the lower classed characters have not been well educated, so they shorten their words, and pronounce them differently and not in proper English. They have also some abbreviated use of language, which sometimes does not make much sense. To show some examples of this, I have taken quotations from Chapter Six, Silas Marner.
“ Ay, Ay; I know, I know; but I let other folks talk. I’ve laid by now and gev up to the young uns.”
This quote is taken from a scene where there is joking, about Mr Tookey’s inability to sing in tune in the church choir.
Some of the upper class villagers, such as Godfrey and Dunstan use proper English, and can speak well because they have been well educated. Silas was also well educated, so he could speak properly. Some of the villagers could not read or write, due to lack of and poor education in these times.
In Lantern Yard, religion was more of an issue than it is in Raveloe. In Lantern Yard, the villagers thought that if you wanted to be safe, and go to Heaven, then you had to go to Church and pray, even help out, by doing jobs and watching over the sick elders. But if you do not do this then you are seen as a bad person, committing an evil sin, which would be doing the wrong thing, Even though going to Church is an important aspect of life, it is not as important as it was in lantern Yard. If you go to Church, then the people think that you will be rewarded, with happiness and rest, but if you do not, then you are seen as a wicked person, who will be punished.
Some critics have described Silas Marner as being a fairy tale, but I think that it is too realistic to be one. It is also too complicated to be one. In a fairy tale there aren’t that many problems, and everything is nice and everyone loves each other, just like being in a bubble all of your life. But there are too many problems, disagreements and arguments in Silas Marner to make it a fairy tale. A normal fairy tale usually starts with ‘ Once upon a time’ which is similar to what the starting of Silas Marner is. ‘ In the days’ is very similar to a fairy tale starting. Also Silas Marner ends with ‘they lived happily ever after’, which a fairy tale almost ends in that way.
George Eliot is complete with religion, class divisions and interwoven human emotions. Life mysteries and fate are examined. The contrast between Silas’ urban home in Lantern Yard, pushed apart by the Industrial Revolution, and the active village of Raveloe shows George Eliot’s obvious preference.
Silas Marner was written to teach the values of honesty, kindness, and courage as it still entertains, and is still quite a far-reaching vision of the world.
I think that Silas Marner is a novel written to tell people of today what life uses to be like for the rich and the poor, and both how the rich and the poor were completely different from each other. The rich, such as Nancy and Godfrey, had been blessed with wealth for several years. They were very well off, lived in a nice loving home, with food and water, but without children. At special occasions, they would go to dinner, drink and celebrate, especially at Christmas. But whilst they were enjoying their money’s worth, poor Molly was out in the cold, trudging through the snow, with her young daughter Eppie. This shows that she did not have any family or relations to go to at this time of year. She did not have a lot of money so she could not afford luxurious food and drink.
Silas Marner was written to teach people not to judge other people by their class, whether they are rich or poor, how much or how little money they have. It is based on a well-known saying, ‘ never judge a book by its cover’.
