Silas Marner by George Eliot (Summary)

 

Silas Marner

by George Eliot

(Summary) 

The story of the novel is located in the village of Raveloe. Here lives the hero of the novel- a weaver named Silas Marner. The local people look upon him with suspicion because he comes from a remote part of the country. Another important factor is that he lives completely alone, and he has been known to have strange hysterics. For fifteen years he has lived like this.

Fifteen years earlier, Silas was an esteemed member of a church at Lantern Yard in a city to the north. His hysterical fits were considered there as a mark of extraordinary intimacy to the Holy Spirit. He had a close friend named William Dane, and he was engaged to marry a serving girl named Sarah. But one day the elder deacon fell ill and had to be looked after round the clock by members of the congregation and the parishioners, as he was a childless as well as a widower there was no one else to take care of him during his days of ill health. During Silas’ watch, a bag of money disappears from a drawer by the deacon’s bed. The condition becomes worse when Silas’ knife is found in the drawer, but Silas swears he is innocent and asks that his room be searched. The empty bag is found there by William Dane. Then Silas remembers that he last used the knife to cut a strap for William, but he says nothing to the others. Naturally, everybody suspects him of theft. To confirm the truth, the church members take the help of prayer and drawing of lots, and the lots declare Silas guilty.

Silas feels that he has been cheated by his friend and now by his God. In this desperate condition he declares that there is no just God. He is sure that Sarah too will walk out on him; therefore, he takes refuge in his work. He soon receives a message from Sarah that their engagement is ended, and a month later he gets a more severe blow when she marries William Dane. Silas is frustrated by the turn of events in his life and leaves Lantern Yard. He settles in Raveloe, where he feels he is out of sight even from God. His work is at first his only consolation, but soon he begins to receive gold for his cloth. When the whole world has turned its back on him, the gold gives him a kind of camaraderie. He works harder and harder to earn more of it and stores it in a bag beneath his floor. His contacts with humanity become weak. Once he gives help to a woman who is ill by treating her with herbs as his mother taught him, but this action gives him a reputation as a maker of charms. People throng him to ask his help, but he cannot give any. Consequently, he is believed to cause other misfortunes and be in association with the evil spirit. Now, Silas is more alone than ever.

The most prominent person of Raveloe is Squire Cass. His wife died some time ago, and his sons are left to take care of themselves. Because of their unguarded state and lack of judgement, the sons get entangled in certain problematic situations: the eldest son, Godfrey, has made a hasty marriage with a woman of poor reputation, and the second son, Dunstan, is blackmailing Godfrey to keep this secret from their father. Godfrey has given Dunstan some rent money from one of his father’s tenants; now the Squire wants the money, so Godfrey gives Dunstan his horse to sell to raise the cash.

Dunstan passes the cottage of Silas on the way to the hunt where he hopes to sell the horse. This sight gives him the idea of borrowing the money from Marner, but he rather likes the idea of annoying his brother, so he continues to the hunt and makes the sale. However, instead of turning over the horse at once, he rides in the chase and kills the animal on a stake. Desperately, Dunstan begins to walk home. It becomes dark and foggy before he can reach there, and in the darkness, he comes to Marner’s cottage. Dunstan goes there to borrow a lantern and to try to get some money out of the weaver. He finds the cottage empty. Searching around the floor, he soon finds where the money is hidden. He replaces the bricks that had covered it and carries the money away.

As time has passed by, Silas has poor eyesight, and on his return, he finds nothing wrong until he goes to take out his money to count it. To his utter surprise he fails to find it, he feels that once again he has been robbed by an unseen power. However, he clings to the hope that there was a human thief, and he goes off to the village inn to find the constable. At the inn, the tête-à-tête has been of ghosts, and when Silas bursts in he himself is for a moment taken for a ghost. But Silas is so worked up that it is noticeable he is no ghost, and when he tells of the robbery, all the inmates have sympathy for him. His helplessness removes any feeling that he is connected with the devil. Some of the men set out after the constable.

The news of the robbery spreads like wildfire, and there is soon general conformity that the thief must have been a wandering peddler who had been in the neighborhood: no other stranger has been noticed, and no local person could be suspected. Dunstan’s disappearance is not thought strange because that has happened before. Godfrey is not surprised either, for he soon learns that Dunstan has killed his horse. Finally, he decides to tell his father of his marriage. He tries to weave the story by telling of his horse and of the rent money that he had given to Dunstan; but he gets no farther, for his father is furious with anger, which leaves Godfrey in a worse position than ever. There is a change for Silas who is now treated with some kindness by his neighbors. Dolly Winthrop, tries to persuade him into attending church, at least on Christmas. However, Silas finds no connection between local religious customs and those he knows of, and Christmas finds him at home as usual. There is no evident change in Silas.

Christmas and New Year are the time of special festivals in Raveloe. The most important merriment is the New Year’s dance at Squire Cass’ home. There, Godfrey is unable to keep himself away from Nancy Lammeter, the girl he has always wished-for to marry. He

knows very well that it is wrong, and that the news of his marriage must come out soon, he thinks there is no harm in enjoying himself with Nancy while he can. We see that Nancy also wants to marry Godfrey, but his strange behaviour has made her insensitive towards him and when he asks her pardon, she replies that she will be glad to see anyone improve and give up all conceited ways. On the other hand, Godfrey’s wife, Molly, has decided to revenge herself for his ill-treatment of her, and she sets out with their child to meet him at the dance.

Coincidentally, she loses her way in the snow, and at last she fortifies herself with opium, to which she has become captivated. The opium only makes her sleepier, and Molly sinks down in the snow. Her child slips from her arms and is innocently attracted to a radiance that comes from the open door of Marner’s cottage, where he stands, unaware of the child’s presence. He has been looking out to see if his money might return and has been stricken by one of his hysterics. When he gains consciousness, he sees gold by his hearth and thinks his money has come back, but on taking a closer look, he discovers that the gold is the hair of a child. At last, he overcomes his wonder enough to realize that the child has come in out of the snow, and there outside he discovers Molly’s body. He is utterly surprised to see all this. He takes the child and hurries to Squire Cass’ house to get the help of a doctor for this desperate child. This causes Godfrey both terror and optimism because he recognizes that the child is his own, and he hopes that he may be free at last. He goes with Doctor Kimble and finds that the woman Marner found is indeed his wife and that she is dead.

Molly is buried that week as a stranger to everyone. Godfrey does not disclose his relation to the woman who is buried as a stranger. Silas feels that the child has been sent to him by Providence, and he is resolute to keep it. This determination causes even warmer feeling for him in Raveloe, and he is given much well-meant advice. Dolly Winthrop gives him real aid with the child and offers some old clothes that belonged to her son Aaron. Godfrey is very happy to see that his daughter is being cared for. He offers financial support but never declares that he is the father of this mysterious child.

Silas names the child Hepzibah or Eppie for short after his mother and little sister. He is very happy to realize that, unlike his gold, Eppie makes him constantly aware of the world and of other men. He gives her his unconditional love, and everywhere he finds kindness from the other villagers. In this manner, he gains a very positive image in the neighbourhood. Sixteen years pass. Nancy and Godfrey are married, and Eppie has grown into a beautiful young woman. Silas is liked and appreciated in Raveloe. His life with Eppie has been close and happy with the cordial assistance of Mr. and Mrs. Cass. Eppie treats Dolly Winthrop as her godmother, and she is a close friend of Silas. The two of them have discussed his old problem at Lantern Yard and considered the great differences in religion between the two places.

Dolly’s son Aaron is interested in marrying Eppie, and Eppie has agreed on the condition that Silas will live with them. She has been told of her mother, but she knows nothing of any other man who could possibly be her father, and she cannot bear to be parted from Silas. Godfrey and Nancy are childless. Their one child died in infancy. This state of childlessness is a great dilemma for Godfrey because he has always wanted children. He wanted to adopt Eppie, but Nancy did not agree, feeling that it would be going against Providence to adopt a child when none was given naturally. Nancy, however, has tried to compensate for this deficiency to Godfrey in other ways, and their marriage has been happy but for this single reason Godfrey was afraid to tell her that Eppie was his own child.

Then comes a particular Sunday, Nancy is thinking over the old problems of her life when Godfrey becomes very much distressed. It so happened that the Stone Pits near Marner’s cottage are being drained, and Dunstan’s body has been found there with Silas’ gold. Now Godfrey is forced to tell Nancy that his brother was a robber. Moreover, his newfound honesty convinces him that all truths come out sooner or later, and he admits that Eppie is his own child. Nancy’s reaction is that of a noble soul. Instead of being dismayed with him, Nancy is sorry that she refused to adopt Eppie sooner. The two of them go that night to Marner’s cottage to claim Eppie. The girl however, does not wish to be claimed. Both she and Silas feel that no claim of blood can outweigh their years of life together. She does not want to leave Silas nor to be rescued from her low station and the prospect of marriage to a workingman.

Godfrey returns empty-handed and bitterly disappointed. He realizes that he is being punished now for his earlier sins, but he is determined to try to fulfill his duty at last and to do all he can for Eppie even though she has refused to accept his paternal authority. Silas feels able to return to Lantern Yard to try to settle the matter of the old theft because he has his own gold in hand that was stolen by Dunstan. He goes there with Eppie, but they find everything changed. The chapel is no more there because a factory has been set in its place. Only the prison is left to remind Silas that this was where he once lived. He returns home no wiser than when he set out. He shares his views with Dolly that there is reason to have faith in spite of the darkness of the past and one always finds a ray of hope somewhere in the dark.

On a fine sunny and auspicious day, Eppie and Aaron are married. with the wedding at Mr. Cass’ expense. The young couple comes to live with Silas at his cottage, where the villagers join in harmony that Silas has been consecrated through his kindness to an orphaned child. All the characters are happy with their lot.