Is Silas Marner a Moral Tale Essays

Is Silas Marner a Moral Tale Essays Is Silas Marner a Moral Tale Paper Is Silas Marner a Moral Tale Paper and need to work harder for their food. But in Raveloe, there is a sharp contrast. Raveloe is a secular town, and the church plays a minor role in the town and its residents. There is also plenty of food, there were several chiefs in Raveloe who could farm badly quite at their ease, drawing enough money in those war times, to live in a rollicking fashion, and keep a jolly Christmas, Whitsun and Eastertide, meaning Raveloe was a thriving economy, where you didnt have to work hard to make a good bit of money, and that everyone was well off and well fed too. In the second chapter, The Groove Made by Fifteen Years in Raveloe, the mood is set that Silas is unhinged from his old-faith, and the past becomes dreamy because its symbols have all vanished, and the present too is dreamy because it is linked with no memories. What Mary Ann Evans is trying to say is that when you are in a new space, a new environment, everything becomes blurred, and dreamy, because you do not know this place and have no memories of it. And that memories are what make a place, for example, home is not home, unless you have memories of that place, and you know people there. But for Silas, Raveloe is like a new world, and it is all dreamy to him, because he has no memories of that place. The towns people in Raveloe, because they dont understand him, do not trust him either and keep their distance. Silas after his exile from Lantern Yard, doesnt trust God or people and they do not trust him back. He rarely leaves his cottage, except to get essentials, and doesnt talk to anyone. So they think he is a bit mysterious, and therefore dont trust him. His first movement after the shock had been to work in his loom; and he went on with this unremittingly, never asking himself why, now he was come to Raveloe, and this extract, tells us Silas reaction to moving into Raveloe, and his instinct almost tells him to work. But at first, he doesnt care for the money, only to work: but it was pleasant to him to feel them in his palm, the five gold guineas he held. And this is when his motives for weaving change, from an instinct, too a greed for gold. But it doesnt start of as greed, at first it is a fascination, because in Lantern Yard, he probably would never have seen this much money before. And it was another element of life, like the weaving and the satisfaction of hunger and this gives us an insight, that Silas loves his weaving as much as satisfying a hunger, and he now has this new element of life, and that is gold. There is a lot of moral comment through each character. And they all get their just deserts in the end. Many are either punished, or rewarded, and that is why I think this book is a moral tale, but a very complex one with more than one message. For instance, Dunstan, Godfreys brother, is really hated in Raveloe because he is rude, dishonest, and disrespectful to them. Then he does the worst, and steals Silas Marners gold, and the description of Dunstan when he stepped forward into the darkness has a double meaning. One, it is a descriptive sentence, and it describes how dark it is, and him stepping into that darkness. The second, is an abstract account, of Dunstan doing something much worse than he ever has before, and stepping forward to a new evil. And the moral message in Dunstans story, is that the truth will always come out, because at the end of Silas Marner it is discovered that Dunstan has drowned, and silas money is returned to him; but because of his new love in Eppie, it cannot hold him like it did before. Another character with a moral comment within him is Dunstans brother, Godfrey Cass, who lies for many years about a secret marriage he has with a drug-addict, and who is a victim to the demon opium and a secret child to that wife. That child later becomes Eppie, and while Godfreys wife goes to see him and tell the truth to his family and friends, she dies in the snow where she does not feel the bed was cold, and this two has another meaning, that she was cold and heartless. While her child wanders into Silas house, and he believes it to be a present from God. But when Godfrey learns of his wifes death, he is pleased, and wishes to propose to Nancy Lammeter, and care for his child. But he cannot bring himself to tell the truth to his wife, and so keeps it from her, and lets Silas Marner look after her instead. But sixteen years later, Godfrey tells Nancy all about Eppie, and she says to Godfrey, Godfrey, if you had but told me this six years ago, we could have done some of our duty by the child. Do you think Id have refused to take her in, if Id known she was yours? And you feel great sympathy for Godfrey, for if he had told Nancy all that time ago, he may now be the father of Eppie. They do go to Silas but she has known only Silas to be her father, and stays with him. He is almost, the tragic hero of the story, but for one secret, one lie, he been punished for the rest of his life. But Eppie does bring happiness to Silas, who, after losing his gold, falls into a sort of numbness, but when he finds Eppie on the floor, in her golden hair and his short eyesight, he sees his gold. And this is symbolism, because he sees the only thing he had loved in Raveloe, in this little girl, and a new, warmer love starts to fill him. So in Silas story, he gets what he deserves, happiness. He was a good man, who was unfortunately thrown out of Lantern Yard, but he finally found happiness in Eppie. Nancy, was just unfortunate to get caught up in it all. A sort of innocence almost, and she shares her sorrow with Godfrey. When Eppie does come to Silas, it is like a message from God. For all these years, he had been exiled from Lantern Yard, and no friends, relatives, or just people he knew in Raveloe. But when Eppie comes, it is redemption and forgiveness from God. Eppie is innocence from an evil background. A background of her mother and opium. In the end, the truth is always revealed, and I think this is the main moral in Silas Marner. The truth about Godfrey being Eppies father and about Dunstan stealing Silas money. When Nancy and Godfrey, tell Eppie if she comes with them she can become a proper lady, but Eppie doesnt want this. She has realized she does not need riches and money to be happy and loved, all because of Silas. This is almost Godfreys punishment, if he had told the truth, he could have had Nancy and Eppie, but because he didnt, he paid the price of not being Eppies father. Dunstan dies in a river, and after taking the choice of stepping forward into the darkness, he is punished for it, he steals money, and for what? He doesnt get a chance to spend it, a chance to be evil. Near the end when Eppie marries Aaron, they are happy, yet do not have much money. And I believe what the author is trying to tell us is that you dont need great amounts of wealth and money, in the case of Eppie and Silas. Silas found love and happiness in Eppie even though he had lost his money, and Eppie and Aaron found love in each other, without having much money and riches. Their garden is a symbol of their simple happiness, and I think the author has put this in deliberately. And to say that you only need a simple life to have simple pleasures, and this is the same with Silas. I do think Silas Marner is a moral tale. But not just about the way we behave. I think it is trying to tell us that we dont need great wealth to be happy, that happiness cannot be bought with money, and this moral is repeated in Silas and Eppies stories. Also, that the truth always comes out sometime, and you cant keep a secret or lie forever. Dunstans secret about him stealing the money comes out in the end, it takes sixteen years for the truth to come out but it does come out, and I think that is what the author has tried to emphasis; it may take a while, but the truth does come out eventually. I think a very old moral also appears, treat your neighbor has you would like to be treated and I think this is the case with Silas and Dunstan. They both either disrespect people, or try to isolate themselves from them, and they both got the same treatment back. But Dunstan, among other things was just disrespectful, and he was punished for that. Silas though, he did have an almost plausible reason for his actions, and at least he never did any wrong. I think what the main moral within the book that the author is trying to get across is to try to be kind, honest, truthful, and respectful, and the same will happen to you. And I think this story has come from many of the authors own imagination, but also from her own experiences with religion, society, and also social life and differences.