Silas Marner

Silas is the eponymous protagonist, but the novel is not necessarily about his exploits as an individual. Instead, the plot is predicated on his proximity to other people. This proximity can be broken down into three distinct phases. First, he is exiled from the community at Lantern Yard. This experience leaves him jaded and bitter. Second, he lives on the periphery of the community of Raveloe. This experience becomes a search for self-meaning, as he replaces the social parts of his existence with work and money. Third, he is gradually accepted into the community through the community’s empathy over his suffering and his lasting good nature. Silas’s proximity to the community emphasizes the importance of social interaction during his era. In the early 19th century, villages, towns, and cities provided an important structure for existence in the form of material and social support networks. Neighbors rely on one another to get by and, because he consciously rejects this form of community, Silas is considered strange. The way in which other characters perceive Silas’s rejection of community is indicative of the importance of these support networks. Many people in Raveloe depend on these networks to survive, either through acts of charity from the wealthy or the outreach from the church. Silas wants neither, seemingly rejecting not just the community but everything that the community represents. In turn, the community rejects Silas. In effect, a perpetual spiral of rejection is created in which the community distrusts Silas and Silas distrusts the community.

Silas’s rejection of community at the beginning of the novel is informed by his experiences. In Lantern Yard, he was a member of a religious community that later betrayed and exiled him. The sense of identity and purpose that the community gave Silas was ripped away from him in an unfair fashion. Rather than blaming individuals, he blames the concept of community itself. His entrance into the second phase on the periphery of the Raveloe community is a conscious action, emphasizing his desire not to be hurt again. By limiting himself to the periphery, he limits how much people can hurt him. His rejection is a defensive action, and he tries to fill the void in his life with something else. Silas works hard at his loom. He hopes that his hard work—and, in particular, the money that it brings—will fill the void in his life that has been left by his rejection of community. Each night, he counts his money as though he is attempting to quantify his own success and personal value. Each coin is an additional token of validation. When he is the victim of theft, however, Silas is shown the error of his ways. The community takes pity on him and comes to his aid; he failed to replace the support network in his life, but only through his suffering and his pain could he be shown the error of his ways. Through the acceptance of this community, he relearns the value of companionship and support. Furthermore, this acceptance in Raveloe helps to heal the feelings of pain following the rejection Silas experienced in Lantern Yard.

Finally, Eppie’s arrival shows Silas the real importance of community. When he adopts her, he signals that he no longer wants to be alone. He tried to fill the void in his life with work and money only for that to be taken away from him. Eppie’s arrival makes Silas vulnerable. He has no idea how to raise a child, and he relies on the community for help. They provide help and, in turn, he is integrated into the community. Silas returns to the fold and, through Eppie’s love, he is shown the importance of community on a broader scale. He is able to fully heal for the first time since leaving Lantern Yard. Silas’s journey functions as an endorsement of the importance of communities as social networks, and it also highlights the harm that can be inflicted when a community rejects a person. Had Silas’s life continued without the arrival of Eppie, and he would have likely lived on the fringes of community for the rest of his life, ultimately dying alone and unhappy. While there is great joy to be found in a community’s acceptance, there is bitterness to be found in a community’s rejection. Silas experiences both throughout the novel in a cyclic nature, thus highlighting the impact that community has on life in negative and positive ways depending on whether or not one is accepted.