Silas Marner, written by George Eliot in 1861, attempts to prove that love of others is ultimately more fulfilling than love of money.

Raveloe is a pretty village with grand houses surrounding the church in the centre. The Cass family, the Osgoods and the Lammeters are some of the families found living in these big houses.

Squire Cass is a man who is found to have high status within the village. He has four sons who live with him in the Red House. Godfrey is the eldest son of Squire Cass and the heir to the Cass estate. As a young man he married a drug addict, Molly Farren, with whom he had a daughter. This secret marriage and Godfrey's handling of it demonstrate the mixture of guilt and moral cowardice that keep him paralysed for much of the novel. Godfrey consented to the marriage largely out of guilt, and keeps the marriage secret because he knows his father will disown him if it ever comes to light.

Godfrey is subject to constant blackmail from his younger brother Dunsey, who knows of Godfrey's secret marriage. Godfrey is subjected to constant blackmail from Dunsey and as a result of this he is forced to give a hundred pounds rent money to Dunsey. Dunsey once again threatens to reveal Godfrey's marriage but, after some arguing, offers to sell Godfrey's prize horse, Wildfire, to repay the loan. Sooner or later a disaster is born to happen and Wildfire is killed by a fence stake. Dunsey is left with no solution other than to walk home.

On his way home, Dunsey passes Silas Marner's cottage and he remembers that Silas has a hoard of gold hidden inside. Seeing that nobody is inside and that the door is unlocked he decides to go in and to his luck he finds the gold hidden under the brick floor. Dunsey being a selfish, greedy man takes this opportunity and away he goes with the money.

Silas's happiness is doomed when his money is stolen and goes to inform the village people right away. The village people are very sympathetic towards him.

Christmas had arrived and the people in the village were offering Silas presents of food as a token of their kindness and friendship.

On New Year's Eve there is a grand party at the Red House. Godfrey Cass had been looking very forward to this party because it meant that he would be in the presence of Nancy Lammeter, a woman who he secretly loves. Godfrey wanted to marry Nancy but there was one thing stopping him, he was married to Molly and was also a father. Nancy would not marry Godfrey until he could prove that he was the man Nancy wanted him to be.

Meanwhile Molly was struggling through the snow her baby in her arms. She was drunk and had taken drugs and as a result of this she collapsed in the snow near Silas Marner's cottage. The little girl saw the light & moved towards it.

Silas found the child and went out searching for her mother. He found Molly lying in the snow and immediately went to search for help at the Red House. Godfrey recognised Eppie as being his daughter and followed the doctor to where Molly was lying in the snow.

Molly was dead. Godfrey kept quiet about his daughter because this meant that he could finally marry Nancy without nothing in the way to jeopardise his future.

Silas Marner had taken a liking to the little girl and instantly became very fond of her.

Silas grew to love the child and he looked after her as if she was his own daughter. He decides to call her Eppie after his little sister who had died. As Godfrey got older he wanted his own rightful daughter back. Nancy refused to have anything to do with her.

After some time, Godfrey and Nancy decide to visit Silas's cottage to confess the truth of the little girls lineage and claim her as their daughter. However, after hearing Godfrey and Nancy's story, Eppie tells them she would rather stay with Silas than live with her biological father. She has announced that she is soon to marry a workingman, Aaron Winthrop. Godfrey had left it too late to reveal the truth, seventeen years too late.

The climax of the story would come when Eppie suddenly appears in Silas's cottage and instantly he grows fond of her and loves her as if she was a gift sent down from God. His life is re-established once again.

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. There are many themes which are conveyed in Silas Marner, the main ones being; the individual versus the community and the interdependence of faith and religious beliefs.

One lesser theme of the book is in regards to the Cass family. Eliot portrays Godfrey and Dunsey as wealthy, selfish scoundrels who try to use one another and others to their personal advantage. While the Cass family, thinking that their wealth gives them undue privilege and rights to property (Godfrey's attempt to seize Eppie from Silas), seems incredibly egocentric, Silas, representing the lower class, is seen as a humble victim of class bias.

Religion is also indicted in the novel. The face of faith is recovered towards the end, following Silas's return to church and baptism of Eppie. No matter what the circumstances, Silas learns that his faith can always be a pillar of strength.

Many modern day situations are arising where people regardless of religion, skin colour & ethnicity are being treated unfairly because of the society we now live in. For example; the war in Iraq has left thousands of people homeless and many young Iraqi children are now orphans as a result of this horrendous action. Ali Abbas, a thirteen-year-old Iraqi boy lost both arms and suffered 60% burns in a US missile attack on Baghdad early in the Gulf War. His parents and 13 other family members were killed. He was airlifted from Iraq to a hospital in Kuwait for treatment amid fears an infection could prove fatal and then later brought to Britain. He has been fitted with two artificial arms at Queen Mary's Hospital in Roehampton, southwest London. He has been fitted with a cosmetic prosthetic on his left side and a state-of-the art artificial limb on the right with an electrode touching the muscle on his stump to open and close his hand (stated in the newspaper). However, he still faces months of occupational therapy and while he is growing, the limbs will need to be replaced at intervals.

The boy's suffering has touched the hearts of millions worldwide and sparked a high-profile campaign to save his life. This happened for something which he wasn't even responsible for which goes to show that people must think about their actions and not do something wrong to get what they want.