Answer: Silas is in no way a heroic character. He is not notably intelligent or courageous or unselfish. The novel ‘Silas Marner’ by George Eliot is famous for having some important characters. George Eliot is famous for delineating characters. Silas Marner is the unique creation of the novelist. The novelist has delineated the character of Silas Marner with all artistic beauty.
Silas Marner is a man of high religious disposition. But circumstances make him irreligious. He is the man who is the victim of circumstances. Once he disagreed by fate and again fortune him.
Silas Marner is sincere and a very devoted man who has complete faith in good. He leads a pious life, he is a weaver. But he spends all the money in charity. Although he is subject to epileptic– fits, still he lives a four religious life; still he lives a four religious life, spending his earning in charity. But fortune does not favor him. His soft bosom is buffeted by the treachery and misdeeds of his own. Silas Marner is falsely implicated in the theft case. Though is perfectly innocent. Being unjustly treaded by his own beloved at Sarah, Silas become irreligious. He loses faith in god and Churches. Thus a faithful and devote man becomes totally faithless and lives his own place lantern yard.
Being crest fallen and faithless Marner come to Raveloe. Here he start second pace of life. He tries to establish to contact with the people of Raveloe 20 seconds. But he fails because people look at him suspicion and distrust. That original love and trust seemed crushed by the evils which befall him. He devotes his attention towards weaving machine. He starts working in a mechanical manner like a spider paying no attention to anything else. His works begins to bring him a lot of money. His earnings make him greedy and money obsessed. He works to earn gold guineas and silver crowns. He accumulates money. He becomes miser and closefisted man. He loves money more than anything else. At night, in a quiet atmosphere, he would take out his money. He counted them and put them on the table before him and uses to gaze at them with glee. Thus by being money obsessed he is totally dehumanized. But ill luck would have it, manner losses his hard earned gold gains and fails to recover it. At this stage, he starts leading a joyless life having no interest in life.
On one new years EVE, strange thing happens in his life. A little girl with a golden hair enters into Marner’s cottage and he sees something golden before him. He thinks that his lost gold guineas have been re-stored to him. After losing gold givens, Marner becomes abnormal. But when he looks of the girl, a human instinct arouses in him. The girl is named as Eppie. Eppies arrival in Marner’s cottage is a turning point in his life. From a machine life existence, he once again begin to lead the life of human being. Thus we find ups and downs in Marner’s life.
In the conclusion it can be said that, a dehumanized Marner turns into a real and perfect human being felled with the holy feelings of love and affection having Eppie in his life. Silas is always honest, both with himself and with others. The appearance of the little girl Eppie in Marner’s cottage and his decision to rear up the girl mark the beginning of his humanization and regeneration. The dried up heart of the Marner is again refilled to the soft feelings of love affection. The machine life Marner is transformed into a real human being by establishing all sorts of normal human relation.
