As I picked up Eliot’s Silas Marner over the weekend, I kept referring back to our class discussion on the pros and cons of the city. We listed (among other things) that isolation, money, and machinery are key components to city life, and that each of these concepts can negatively impact the spread of urbanization. Although for some moving into a large city provides endless opportunities of freedom and monetary growth, others might easily feel lost and alienated by the complexities of city life.
In Silas Marner however, I noticed that in the beginning of the novel, the main character has a very different experience with the city. When we are first introduced to Silas, he is a well respected and an active member of the community. He maintains close relationships with many community members, and he is heavily involved with the church. In fact, he is engaged to be married and maintains a fairly decent living as the local weaver. He does not harbor any feelings of isolation until he is accused of a crime he did not commit and is forced to leave town.
When he relocates to the countryside, I was struck by his odd behavior. His life becomes very mechanical; he locks himself up in his cottage working sixteen hour days and never attempts to befriend his neighbors. I was surprised that a man who used be very friendly and affectionate, now only communicates with people through business interactions. His emotional attachment to others is completely turned off; he resigns himself to living as a hermit. During his first twelve years in Raveleo, Silas’s only trusted companion is his “brown earthenware pot” (15). He has grown so attached to this object that when he accidentally breaks it, he is grief stricken. Silas even goes as far as putting the “bits together and [props] the ruin in its old place for a memorial” (15). His distress over the pot suggests that although Silas is quite capable of being affectionate, he continues to be haunted by his past, and it prevents him from moving forward. For the most part, the country offers Silas a place of solace, but it also allows him to hide from his past and his future. By keeping to himself, he does not have to confront any further possibilities of being betrayed by his community.
His change in behavior not only limits him from establishing friendships, but it also fuels his new obsession with work and money. I was caught of guard by the way Silas throws himself into his work. Now, I understand that this may be his way of avoiding his past and current situation, but I did not expect that he would also become hungry for money. The more he stays away from others, more diligent he is with work, and the more he focuses on acquiring wealth. I can’t quite figure out the reason behind his greed? What does the money replace? The text suggests that his obsession is an “incipient habit” (14), but I think it goes beyond a simple habit. Perhaps the wealth provides Silas with a sense of security he never had before? I’m not sure...either way, his fixation on the guineas is very daunting. He is so attached to the money that he would “not exchange [his] coins, which had become his familiars, for other coins with unknown faces. He handled them, he counted them, till their form and color were like the satisfaction of a thirst for him” (14). Furthermore, Silas is not only consumed by money, but he also does not use it to his advantage. He lives below his means, keeping the bags of money within arms reach as if they were meant to be his companion and nothing else. His determination to work and make more money, does not fit my idea of the a man living in the country. I would imagine that anyone who moves away from the city would be more inclined to slow down rather than work their life away.
