Another good example of a parent was Mr Lammeter. He was a good father to Nancy and Priscilla Lammeter. He looked after them properly an in reward he got Nancy and Priscilla turning out to be good daughters. Both these parents inculcated the right value in their children.
An example of a bad parent was Squire Cass. He was a bad father to his sons. He left them on their own while he was out drinking alcohol or at a party. He neglected them and in return was punished by his children turning out bad. Godfrey turned out to be selfish and nasty and Dunstan turned out to be evil, greedy and rebellious.
Another thing in the Victorian times, Children who were orphans or abandoned by their parents were taken to the workhouse and made to work in horrible conditions for long hours and very little pay. The children that did work in the factories had no right or protection. When Eppie was abandoned by her parents Molly Farren and Godfrey Cass, She would have been sent to ware house. But Silas Marner saved her from this because he takes her in and treats her as his own child. Later on in the story Eppie thanks Silas for the kindness he showed to her, “If it hadn’t been for you, they’d have taken me to the workhouse, and there’d have been nobody to love me.” Eppie is very grateful towards Silas. This shows that if parents who love their children then later in life the children will show love to them.
Silas Marner is a lonely weaver who doesn’t like to socialise with the community of Raveloe. Silas used to live in Lantern Yard where he used to be a Christian. Then his best friend framed him, so Silas left Lantern Yard. He moved to Raveloe and has been there for fifteen yeas. In those fifteen years Silas has been working as much as he can. It says in the book “He seems to weave, like the spider, from pure impulse.” This means just like a spider weaves Silas weaves the same way. Silas is very rich because he is a miser and doesn’t spend his money at all. He also worships his money. Then one day Dunstan Cass stole Silas’ money because he needed it. After that he is never heard of again. Silas now hated humanity. He has now lost trust in his fellow men. On Christmas Eve Silas went out to look for his gold, when Silas was looking for his gold outside he had a cataleptic fit, and a little girl entered his cottage. When Silas saw the little girl he mistook her hair for his gold. After finding her he took her in and adopted her, which shocked everyone in Raveloe. He named her “Hephzibah” after his mother and sister yet she was called Eppie for short. Silas taking in Eppie is ironic because Dunstan took Silas’ treasure deliberately and then Silas took Godfreys’ treasure without knowing. This is when the two plots merge together. Sixteen year later Eppie turned out to be a beautiful young woman.
One day when the stone pits dried up, Dunstan Cass and Silas’ money were found. Godfrey Cass finds out and is scared because if and event can be found out sixteen years later then they can find out about his secret wife and paternity. So Godfrey tells Nancy (Godfrey’s wife) about Dunstan and then tells her that Eppie is really his child and Molly was his wife. They both agree to adopt Eppie. In this part, when Godfrey tries to claim Eppie, Silas gets very angry. Eppie in the end rejects Godfreys offer and then Godfrey and Nancy leave. After this Silas and Eppie go back o Lantern Yard to see Silas’ old friend, but when they get there it has completely changed. In the end Eppie and Aaron Winthrop get married and Godfrey doesn’t show up.
Silas Marner is a lonely weaver who lives in Raveloe. He used to live in Lantern Yard but moved because he felt the need to move after being falsely accused of stealing. After this incident he felt betrayed and lost all trust in others Silas lived by himself in Raveloe. He worked as a weaver and gained money from his work, his gold was one purpose in life. One night when Silas was out, he left the front door of his cottage open. On that night Dunstan Cass went into silas’ house and stole his money, fled off into the night and was never seen again. Silas was devastated when he discovered his gold was missing. He reported the incident but no one was found responsible, as the weeks went by people lost interest. Occasionally some neighbours will visit him but silas was at his lowest point and had never been unhappier. He lost the one thing he cared about. On Christmas Eve, silas heard the bells ringing for the New Year’s Day and went outside because he heard good things happen on New Year’s Day, so silas went out to look for his money. When he was out side he had a cataleptic fit and left his door open. When he was having a fit he never noticed a little girl crawl coincidently into his cottage and went to sleep by the fire place. When silas recovered from the fit he went into his house and saw Eppie. He mistook Eppie’s golden curls for his lost gold. Silas was shocked and amazed, but then he touched her hair he felt it was soft. The significance of silas mistaking the golden curls for his gold is that just as the gold was precious to him, the child will be the same. Silas then feeds Eppie because she was crying. Silas noticed that she wanted to take her shoes off because they were wet. Then he realised that Eppie came from outside, he saw her footprints and followed her. The footprints lead to Eppie’s dying mother, Molly Farren. Silas then went to the Red house with Eppie to look for the doctor, when silas entered the Red house, everyone was shocked to see him because he doesn’t usually go to public places. When Godfrey first saw silas he thought silas was a ghost, “but when Godfrey was lifting his eyes from one of those long glances, they encountered an object as startling to him at that moment as if it had been an apparition from the dead.” This means that Godfrey thought silas was a ghost from is mind, it says in the book “Mr Crackenthorp and Mr Lammeter had already advanced to Silas, in astonishment as this strange advent.” Mr Crackenthorp and Mr Lammeter went to silas to see what was happening, also Godfrey joined them straight away, because in silas’ hands was his little daughter, and after seeing Eppie he thought molly would be coming as well to reveal Godfrey’s secret. When silas told them about a dieing woman in front of is cottage, Godfrey hopes that it is Molly Farren and that she is dead. Godfrey ignores Eppie because if he did take her, he would get found out. Godfrey’s mental struggle when he sees Eppie in silas’ arms could suggest his wanting to claim Eppie, but due to his selfish desires, he decides not to. The doctor goes to see the dieing women and Godfrey goes with him because he wants to make sure it is Molly Farren and she is dead, this shows how evil Godfrey is. Before Godfrey goes Dolly Winthrop says to him “you’ve a tender heart” because she thinks he is being helpful but this is ironic because we know Godfrey is evil.
The people in the Red house asked silas for him to give the baby to them because they thought, why would silas want to look after a baby but silas their offers and says “NO NO – I can’t part with it, I cant let it go.” This could mean that silas wants to keep the baby, maybe because instead of his gold coming back he got a child. Silas also says “it’s come to me – I’ve a right to keep it.” Silas says to everyone that Eppie has come to him and no one else and he certainly doesn’t want to get rid of Eppie. Silas wants to keep Eppie and this surprises every one. Godfrey’s plan is to make silas take her to the parish, so Godfrey can adapt her but silas says “who says so? Will they make me take her” silas then says “till anybody shows they’ve a right to take her away from me.” This shows he’s willing to fight for the right to keep Eppie. Here is another quote from the book that shows silas wants to keep the baby, “the mother’s dead and I reckon it’s got no father: it’s alone thing and I’m alone thing. My moneys gone I don’t know where and this has come from I don’t know where. I know nothing – I’m partly mazed.” These are silas’ reasons for taking in Eppie.
Silas doesn’t want anybody to take Eppie away from him, he wants her all to himself. He rejected the offer of people at the Red house to take Eppie in. Dolly Winthrop helped silas out a lot. She helps him by telling him how to look after Eppie, but silas doesn’t want that much help. He says that she can help him but he says “I want to do things for it myself, else it may get fond o’ someone else, and not fond o’ me. I’ve been used to fending for myself in the house. I can learn, I can learn.” This shows how desperate he was for Eppie to love him. He didn’t want Eppie to get too fond of anybody else. Silas wants to look after her so she will recognise him only as a father and no one else. He is very protected over her, especially when dolly says “I can teach em this little un, Master Marner, when she gets old enough.” However silas replies by saying “but she’ll be my little un, she’ll be nobody else’s.” this shows how selfish he is and shows how protective he is of her.