Silas Marner is a story about Marner

Silas Marner is a story about Marner

Silas Marner is a story about Marner, a weaver in the countryside of England. He weaves at a village called Raveloe at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Marner is followed by numerous suspicions from the people in this village because of origin, an outsider. Again, he faces criticism for his skillful nature that the people in the village become jealous of him. He is seen as an odd man with a curious cataleptic fits that occasionally catches up with him. His main reason for moving to this village was excommunication by a religious sect in his Lantern Yard, where he was accused of theft. After suffering this accusation, Silas finds himself in a test for his faith; his religion had refused him, and yet here he was in Raveloe, where nothing could reawaken his belief in God. This makes him fall into the numbing routine, whereby he was involved in solitary work. In his life, Silas encounters several people, some of whom the write captures in this narration, to drive certain aspects of the story. Godfrey Cass is presented in the narrative as the eldest son of Cass, and he owns the Cass estate. Even though he has been raised well, Cass delights only in material comfort, a problem that affects other people to a great extent. He marries an opium addict, and together, they bear a daughter. This paper analyzes the role of Silas Marner and Godfrey Cass in this story and how Eliot uses them for their different purposes.

Silas Marner is the main character in Eliot’s narration, and for this reason, Eliot chooses to use him as the title of the story. Silas plays a crucial role in this narration, whereby he is shown as a man of great deeds and religious dispositions yet so unsocial. This trait makes him vulnerable to many social challenges. Framed of theft by his people and religion, Silas chooses to abstain from making any physical confrontations or even claiming his innocence. Instead, he leaves all these matters to God. Contrary to his expectation, Silas is found guilty by the judges and excommunicated by his religion (Eliot 58). Eliot uses Silas to show how someone can lose their faith and beliefs, but with the good deeds and motives at heart, anyone can still emerge as the right person and get back to terms with their faith. Eliot’s choice of using Silas in this particular

In this novel, Silas represents the oppressed and the poor people, who show tolerance and perseverance. Throughout the story, he is shown as a silent man who does not make any social contact with the people of his new village. In the novel, he is shown as a religious man, who is forced to leave his religion because of the various pushing circumstances. Eliot uses him as a victim of numerous social issues. Playing the role of a devoted man, he spends his wages on paying charities (Eliot 92). Even with his good deeds and religious stand, he is shown as a man of utter misdeed and treachery. Eliot uses him in this role to represent a man of two sides, a kind face and a dark history, that he tries to hide behind good deeds like charity. Throughout the novel, Silas is used to brewing suspense whereby the readers raise a question on the stand of the writer on his character.

In society, Silas represents numerous aspects. Firs, Eliot uses him to serve the various victims of unfair justice systems. In this role, Eliot uses Silas to show how a culture that depends upon little evidence for cases could ruin the lives of people. Again, Eliot uses him to show the strictness and close adherence to the religion in the setting’s culture. In this novel, theft is a serious crime that deserves a severe punishment from religion. Eliot uses Silas in this role t show how this society exercises excommunication for crimes like left. By abandoning his religion and then coming back to it, Silas is shown as a society that depends upon social factors like love and association for faith. When troubles do not face him, Silas abides by his religion, yet when he is excommunicated, he hates the religion and even abandons it. In this role, he serves to show the culture of the people whereby they saw the religion as a product of people, and when wronged by those in the faith, the best choice is leaving the religion (Eliot 120). Again, by coming back to the religion, Silas represents the indecisive people within a culture, who are easily carried away by tides. Additionally, this part also represents how people turn away from their wicked ways to embrace their old selves. Finally, Silas represents the right people in the culture who do excellent deeds through his role of taking Eppie.

Godfrey Cass plays the role of a kindly man who loves material possessions. He plays the role of a man of weak character who keeps his marriage a secret to his father, because of the fear that he would be disowned. Cass is a man of moral cowardice and guilt, which makes him marry his secretive wife. First, he fears that by not marrying Molly Farren, the society would never forgive him. Secondly, he shows excellent moral cowardice by refusing to announce his love for Molly publicly. In his role as a man who loves material possessions, he refuses to announce his marriage because he wants to remain the heir of the estate. Eliot uses Godfrey in this role for numerous reasons (Eliot, 150). First, she uses him because he is a man from a wealthy family and who has affairs with low-class people, an addict. To show the relationship between the rich and the poor, Eliot chooses to use Cass, a young man, who has to gain favor with his father, and who has to find a beloved wife.

In the novel, Cass represents a similar role to that of Silas. A man who does not understand his purpose clearly, easily swayed away by the demands of his father, yet he wants to avoid the guilt of abandoning his wife and daughter. In the culture that he represents, Cass shows a class of the highly wealthy dynasties in the region. In these dynasties, he represents the sons and daughters, who have little or no say in love matters. Instead, their fathers are obliged to find them suitable lovers, preferably from wealthy families. Torn between embracing his wife and following his father, he chooses to do the two by keeping his marriage a secret (Eliot 156). He keeps his marriage a secret until years later when Moly dies, and Cass has to tell his new wife the story due to the threats by Dunsey. By this time, his daughter, Eppie has already developed a strong bond with Silas, and he can’t take her back