George Eliot: Silas Marner

     The first quote that stood out to me in Silas Marner by George Eliot stated, “They had, perhaps, heard their fathers and mothers hint that Silas Marner could cure folks’ rheumatism if he had a mind, and add, still more darkly, that if you could only speak the devil fair enough, he might save you the cost of the doctor.” I thought that this quote, found in the first chapter, was a good way to start the reader off with a hint at what some of the novel's conflicts were going to be about, along with a good insight into what everybody thought of Silas Marner. In addition, one of the novel's main themes is around religion, which would make sense because people in the town suspected that Silas Marner had some sort of connection with the devil. It also opens up the novel for some mystery, considering nobody knows much about Silar Marner, especially not on a personal level. 

    The second quote that I thought was interesting from the first part of this novel came from Chapter 7 and stated, “This strangely novel situation of opening his trouble to his Raveloe neighbours, of sitting in the warmth of a hearth not his own, and feeling the presence of faces and voices which were his nearest promise of help, had doubtless its influence on Marner, in spite of his passionate preoccupation with his loss. Our consciousness rarely registers the beginning of a growth within us any more than without us: there have been many circulations of the sap before we detect the smallest sign of the bud.” This quote brought light to the book because it was Silas Marner’s first time feeling a sense of community, since he had been so isolated his whole life. After he got robbed, he needed help because that is not something you can deal with on your own. I liked how Eliot described the encounter between Silas and the people of the neighborhood; it was very pure. This quote represents some change and a turning point in the novel, for Silas at least. 

Eliot, George. Silas Marner.