Silas Marner: Summary and Discussion: Part 2
First things first: There will be spoilers in here. So if you’re reading this in preparation for the book… I advise against it. Unless you don’t mind. Truly though, what a plot twist. I gasped out loud….
I have to admit I liked the second half a lot better than the first. The pacing picks up a bit, there’s a mystery solved Silas is so much more likeable. Less mopey. Less emo.
The second half begins sixteen years after Silas finds Eppie. She’s now around 18 years old, and has a fun flirty thing with Aaron, the son of Mrs. Winthrop (my favourite character…) Eppie is confident, kind, likes animals and while curious about her mother and her past, doesn’t seem overly traumatised by her beginnings. The tone of the second half shifts quite a lot. The interior of Silas’ house is warmer and brighter, and it seems like his relations with his neighbours has improved. He doesn’t hoard his money, but rather spends it, and seems the happier for it (doesn’t help my “You never know what might happen so spend the money” attitude but it’s nice for him). There seems to be a sense of healing, brought about by caring for something/someone other than yourself.
He “recovered a consciousness of unity between his past and present.” He has a bit of therapy sesh with Mrs. Winthrop, as he opens up to her about his past. (I thought this quite a beautiful scene, and it was an interesting look at how we differ in our interpretations of the bible. She even asks him “And yourn’s the same Bible, you’re sure o’ that, Master Marner- the Bible as you brought wi’ you from that country?” She cannot believe that other people are reading the same words and she listens to in church, and taking something so different away; namely, a tool to use against someone. Again, Eliot’s cynicism of religion seems to poke it’s head in here, as Winthrop admits she can’t read, and doesn’t understand every word spoken in church, but she just knows they’re good…
We get a look at Nancy and Godfrey’s marriage, because of course she had to marry that wet sack of… poop. And it’s fine. It’s a totally normal, healthy marriage and we don’t need to talk about it…
I had a visceral reaction to the scene in which Nancy is “reading her Bible”, but really letting her mind wander to think about all the things she could have done differently to make her husband happier…. I wanted to yell at her, and scream that it wasn’t her fault, but… when does that ever work? And of course, it was beyond infuriating that, even though Godfrey does the bare minimum as a husband, Nancy defends him every chance she gets. “ ‘A man must have so much on his mind,’ is the belief by which a wife often supports a cheerful face under rough answers and unfeeling words.” Oof, George. Just… oof.
But while it’s a frustrating scene to read, there’s a lot of interesting aspects to it, such as self-reflection, an inner-life fuelled by anxiety, anxiety in general, and feminine blame. What’s ironic, is that even though Nancy sees herself as a failure as both woman and wife because she has given her husband no children, and believes that this is her sole reason for existing, she has an awesome example of a single, happy woman who never got married and has no children… Her sister Priscilla (my second favourite character.)
And then.. the plot twist. The gasp moment… While on his daily evening walk, Godfrey passes by the stone pit, which they are draining, and discovers the skeleton of his brother, Dunstan, who apparently had drowned in the water after robbing Silas all those years ago. In a fit of emotion, Godfrey confesses to Nancy that the woman who died in the snow was his wife, and the child, Eppie, is his. Of course she forgives him, because obviously this is very hard on him, as was her miscarriage. It’s very hard being Godfrey Cass.
Of course, Godfrey and Nancy agree that they should indeed raise 18 year old Eppie, now that all the hard work has been done. So they offer Silas a bunch of money to take her off his hands, so that she may be raised a lady and not a working girl. Of course, the pair told them to get stuffed. But really politely. And Godfrey takes it super well, blurts out he’s her father, and promptly get’s shut down by Silas, as he finally rises up and speaks his mind. Of course in the end Eppie chooses to stay with him, and to remain “poor”. Nancy and Godfrey are just the worst, and any sense of sympathy I had for Nancy earlier flew out the window. The audacity of rich people. God forbid she stay poor and content.
The story ends with Silas deciding to go back to his hometown, to see if his name had been cleared, but when he and Eppie arrive, everything is gone and in it’s place is a large factory. The past has been literally rebuilt. Of course, at this point, while he wanted a sense of vindication, the opinions of those who changed his life don’t really matter to him now. He has everything he needs., and Eppie gets married to Aaron.
There is beauty in the simple life.
I have to say, after finishing this, and sitting with it for some time, I changed my original option of Eliot not being for me. Her human observations are amazing, and I felt anger, relief, vindication and affection for the characters she created. Her ability to write the inner-life of these people is astounding. They struggle with things we struggle with, but they also change and heal. They are heavily flawed, and in the case of some of them, we love them for that. Or at least I did. They are greedy, petty, but there is kindness and loyalty as well. Eliot managed to fit the whole gambit of the human experience into 200 pages and… I loved it.
Questions:
As mentioned, Eliot covers a lot in this short novel. Some of the themes are, but not limited to: redemption, forgiveness, isolation, morals/ethics, industrialism vs. rural life, class tension, trauma and how to move on, human connection vs. material wealth and the concept of the traditional family.
Do we pity Nancy? Is she merely an unfortunate product of her time, class and the patriarchy? Or is she weak-minded and lame… not to mention she would be a horrible mother figure to Eppie, who is already strong willed and independent…
There is a sense of underlying appreciation for paganism. “The gods of the hearth exist for us still; and let all new faith be tolerant of that fetishism, lest it bruise its own roots.” One of my favourite lines in the whole book.
Godfrey is the epitome of “Oh no… look! It’s the consequences of my actions.” Are we happy with his ending?
Who was your favourite character?
Again, feel free to write any other thoughts you had while reading, or your opinion. Was this your first time reading George Eliot? What did you think?
She got to me.