Review of Silas Marner Essay Example

door and Silas takes the role of her father giving him a new meaning to life. Godfrey still does not acknowledge the child as his own so Silas is allowed her and he calls the child Eppie after his sister and mother.

This gives Silas a better image and he becomes welcomed into the community of the village, which is something that had never happened to him. Eventually Dunstan is found dead and Silas's money is returned and then eventually, in the final chapters of the book, Godfrey tells his wife Nancy about his wife and Eppie and they decide to confront Silas about this. Silas states that he has a stronger claim on Eppie and because she loves him so much she agrees to stay as she is and the Casses give up and leave.

The book finishes happily with Eppie marrying a man called Aaron and the last words in the book are Eppie saying '... I think nobody could be happier than we are. "' The story starts with the evil seeming triumphant and the good seeming unfortunate (e. g. Dunstan getting Silas's large fortune) however as it starts to conclude it becomes apparent that all the bad deeds have come back to the characters that did them. This message of 'no bad deed goes unpunished' is part of why so many call this George Elliot's 'moral fibre'.

I also found it interesting to look at what happens to Silas when he lives for different things; for fifteen years his only passion in life is his money and he has no faith. Elliot says that it makes him happy but I am given the impression

that she means it is the wrong type of happiness and that if you put your passion into God and family then they will always be there for you and make you truly happy unlike money.

This is also shown how everything seem to turn out O. K. hen he embraces God, Eppie and the whole community and how Eppie sticks by him unlike the money which could disappear at any moment (and did). By this, I think that Elliot is suggesting the difference between true and false happiness and what gives each. I think the story line is very gripping however I think the most interesting aspect of the novel is how almost everything seems to have more to it than it appears to have on the surface. For example, how all the good-willed characters end up doing O. K. but all the evil characters end up either dead or unhappy.

This complexity in the book can be very interesting, however, sometimes the very long sentences and difficulty of reading can become quite frustrating as I sometimes ended up having to read parts over because of a feeling that I'd missed something. I would give the book a 4/5 for difficulty of reading because of the long and dense sentences and the mature and complex issues that are dealt with. You can read the book more easily if you take less care and don't try to read between the lines however by doing this you would miss a lot of what the book is really about.

Because of this I think that it is aimed at adults. It has a gripping storyline and so would be readable

for younger people but I think only more mature readers would really understand it. I think that 'Silas Marner' is a very interesting book even if it may be slightly tough to read at parts. I found the Victorian style of writing quite challenging however I would definitely say that I finished it with a feeling of satisfaction and the more I thought about it the more I understood it and the more I looked deeper into it. For these reasons I give it a 3/5 for pleasure.