George Eliots Silas Marner Essay -- George Eliot Silas Marner essays

George Eliots Silas MarnerThe novel, Silas Marner, is considered to be a moral fable. Theauthor, George Eliot placed parental responsibility as unity of thebooks main themes. She writes of two different parenting styles,along with the happiness and responsibilities that come with thisthrough two characters, Silas Marner and Godfrey Cass.At the beginning of the narrative the character, Silas Marner, is a completely different person from the one he was later to become. Thebook starts by explaining how Silas Marner left his original home-Marner had departed from the town, because of a false accusationthat his best comrade had made about him. The church deacon wasextremely ill, and whilst looking after him Silas was accused ofstealing the churchs money. The religious sect that he belonged to,a strict Calvinistic sect, drew lots to decide whether Silas wasinnocent or guilty. The lots declared that Silas Marner was guilty.The lots where superstitious and one of the supertitions was that theybelieved that their results where Gods will.Marner is over come by a sense of betrayal, as it was his best friendwho has committed such a cruel, un combineworthy deed, Marner looses allhis faith in God. Marner leaves Lantern cause and moves to a smallplace named, Raveloe. This new place is a completely new environmentfor Marner it was as if he had travelled abroad in comparison to ourday and age, we can tell this because in the text it states, he lefthis own country and battalion and came to settle in Ravaloe. SadlyMarner looses all his trust in people, he moves into a cottage in theforest, isolating himself from human contact. He works his loomproducing linen, when he sells this li... ...that where to special tobe destroyed by finance and inanamte objects.This shows that Godfrey was too selfish and self centered to realizewhat a strong relationship Silas and Eppie had. it had neveroccurred to him that Silas would rather part his with life then withEppie.Godfrey in the l ong run suffers for all his years worth of mistakes, realizingthat he cannot separate them, they have the same bond as all GOODfathers have with their children, with deep compassion.The novel shows the make to love and feel compassion, with out it lifeappears to have no meaning.What we understand by the term Parental Duty, is to support a child,not just financially but emotionally and to bring up the child in akind and understanding manner, making sure that the child has respectfor other people also, growing up to be a considerate and graciousperson.