The Changes in Silas Marner by George Elliot

The Changes in Silas Marner by George Elliot

In order to answer this question we must first look at what changes do

actually occur; firstly there is the main change in the book, which is

the change that occurs in Silas Marner himself. This is the main theme

of the book, and indeed, this change is divided into two parts; the

Silas before Eppie arrives and the Silas after she has arrived.

Furthermore this is the first and simple way that we can see that

George Elliot has accounted for this change; she has divided the book

into two parts according to the above change.

Whilst this is the main change in the novel, there are many others,

but the important difference to note is that they all revolve around

the above change; take, for instance, the change that occurs in the

Raveloe village itself; it changes as Silas does, for at first they

thought that Silas was strange or even some kind of demon, but then as

he changed and 'opened up' so they grew to accept him.

Another major change that occurs throughout the book is the change in

Godfrey Cass; this change is slightly different to the rest, for two

reasons; firstly, whereas most other changes happen gradually,

Godfrey's change happens spontaneously when he tells Nancy of his

secret affair. Secondly, whilst the other changes seem to be

improvements (such as the change in Silas), Godfrey's change does not

quite seem to make him that much of a better person; he still had an

affair and he is still grateful that Mollie died.

Generally though, the changes in the novel are positive, for by the

end of the book Silas is happy and has Eppie, Godfrey has Nancy, the

Raveloe people are satisfied and Dunstan is found dead and therefore

Silas gets his money back.

The main change though, is the change that happens to Silas Marner.

This change can be split up into four basic parts; before he was

excommunicated, after he was excommunicated and moves to Raveloe,