SILAS MARNER
This novel is about a lonely man Silas who was born and grew up in Lantern Yard and later lived in Raveloe. when at Lantern Yard Silas was a devoted Christian but because of his cataliptic fits, his friend Abram killed the senior diacon and made it to appear as if it is Silas Marner who killed the clegyman. That is, George Eliot uses the fits as a symbol of transformation in that any time Silas Marner encounters the fits, something significant that changes the plot of the book occurs. After betraying Silas, Abram influenced the church to find fault with Marner. Abram also married Silas Marner`s former girl-friend. As a result, Marner lost faith in man and God. He no longer found value in the church because according to him if the church truely belonged to God, it could stand with him in the truth he held. He, therefore, found himself unworthy to live at Lanternn Yard. He consequently left for Raveloe.
When in Raveloe, Silas detatched himself from the community and prefered to live at a stone cottage. His work was an endless, tireless padling of the loom and he found no substance in life other than the gold he collected from the sales of the weaved materials. He avoids people because they are dangerous to him. He ruther shifts his trust and love to the inanimate gold and cherishes it as the only thing that makes his life meaningful. It should be noted that, compared to Lantern Yard which is a town, Raveloe is the rural part of the country where people mostly rely on Agriculture. Silas`s neighbours include the family of Squire Cass.
Silas happens to have gone out when Squire Cass`s son, Dusten stole his gold. When Silas disvovers this he is nearly destroyed, although this in itself brought about an element of transformation. The firstb thing Silas Marner does when he discover that his gold is gone is to go to people. This time, his help would come from the same people whom he avoided, whom he feared and could not trust. he now believed that people could help him. But the element of mistrust is still with him as he shouts Jem Rodney that Jem Rodney is the one who stole his money. Later the body of Dusten is discovered in the nearby dam still holding the bag of gold.
Silas Marner is later redeemed by the baby Eppie, a daughter of Godfrey another son from the Cass family. Eppie comes to Silas from "no where" when Silas was in fits. Eppie`s mother, Molly Farren is depicted as the most miserable charecter in the novel. Her misery is brought about by Godfrey, a man who promised to marry her but is denied the right to marry her by his father Squire Cass. Molly is on her way to hand the child, Eppy, to Godfrey when snow catches her on the way. She died there and when the child Eppie sees light at a distance crawled toward it. When Marner woke up, he was attracted by agolden "thing" on the ground. He thinks it is his gold and it has come back. When he realised it was a baby, he thought she is his sister who died long ago and that may be she has come back to life.
More summaries about the Silas Marner