Analysis of Silas Marner by George Eliot

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Analysis of Silas Marner by George Eliot

At the beginning of the novel Silas says "There is not a just god that

governs the Earth righteously, but a god of lies that bares witness

against the innocent" At the conclusion of the novel he says "Theres

good I' this world I've a feeling o' that now" What makes Silas change

his mind, and what are the events leading up to his regeneration.

Silas Marner is a novel based on the ups and downs of the main

character, Silas and his friends, neighbours and villagers. Mary Ann

Evans was a woman writing under a man's name, George Eliot. She had to

use a pen name, as women were not accepted as writers. This made all

the morals and issues raised in the novel stronger and more

opinionated, as they were influenced by a determined woman wanting her

voice to be heard. In Silas Marner she tried to bring across the

morals of her time, 1819-80, along with issues she felt important such

as class, women and the general society. She said herself that the

book was meant to portray "old-fashioned village life" but under that

shell there is symbolism and a desire for justice and equality. This

symbolism the whole way through the book gives hints as to the future

of Silas and highlights the ways in which he changes.

At the beginning of the novel Silas Marner is a quiet lonesome

character, he was "condemned, to solitude." Silas is a linen weaver

who spends his life within the four walls of his cottage. He has just

been exiled from Lantern Yard where he had been wrongly accused and

prosecuted. Not only did he lose his reason for living in Lantern Yard

he lost his religion, faith, love and best friend. He was found guilty

of killing a priest and his fiancé ran off with his best friend...

... middle of paper ...

...and that the past really is behind

him. The church he used to belong to no longer exists and the people

he once loved and lost have been buried. Silas is free from the

torment of his past life and now truly able to be happy.

Silas Marner is a tale of overcoming obstacles in life, its main genre

by the end is hope but at the beginning this theme is not apparent.

Silas is a character everyone is able to relate with; he has troubles

and problems but still manages to over come everything to be a better

person. It also carries the moral that "what goes around comes around"

which is portrayed by Eliot in many ways using symbolism, setting and

personal experiences. The last line of the novel is "I think nobody

could be happier than we are." I think that this sentence is a

wonderful conclusion and expresses just how much Silas has changed

since the beginning.

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