I just finished listening to the free Librivox recording of Slias Marner by George Eliot. I had read the book when I was younger (in junior high or high school), but had forgotten everything except the most basic outline of the plot. I did remember liking the little volume very much, so I figured this would be a good time to revisit The Weaver of Raveloe, both to refresh my memory on the details of Eliot’s story and to see if the tale would still appeal to me now that I’m an adult. Mission accomplished on both points!
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): The novella opens by introducing the reader to the title character, Silas Marner. He is a lonely, solitary man who lives on the outskirts of a town called Raveloe. Silas is a weaver, and since there’s no one else in the vicinity who engages in this trade, the villagers have a need for him even though they, in their superstitious naiveté believe that Marner has supernatural healing powers, is in league with the devil, or both. The villagers like to gossip about Marner, but other than that they pretty much leave him to himself — which is precisely what the weaver wants.
Eliot then uses these early chapters to tell us a bit about Silas Marner’s life before he came to Raveloe. We learn that he had lived in a distant village called Lantern Yard, where he was very much a part of the religious community. He had friends and was even engaged to a woman named Sarah at one point.
But due to a stunning betrayal on the part of William Dane, a man Silas thought was his best friend, Marner was accused of stealing a bag of gold from the dying deacon. What really happened was that Marner had lapsed into a “cataleptic fit,” and William Dane seized that opportunity to steal the money for himself and set things up so the blame would fall on Silas, which is exactly what happened. Silas lost his faith at that point, and ended up leaving Lantern Yard for Raveloe.
The incident at Lantern Yard turned Silas into a distrustful loner. He doesn’t interact with society any more than he has to; instead, he prefers to stay at home and count his gold night after night. Eliot says that Marner worked for the sake of watching his gold pile up. He never intended to spend the money on anything; accumulation was the whole point.
Then one night, the unthinkable happens: Marner is robbed by Dunstan Cass, second son of the richest man in Raveloe. Dunstan is one of those men who always squanders money and is always in debt, yet somehow always finds a way to get by. This time, he’s in a position where there’s no way out except to steal, so he immediately thinks of Marner’s stash. Dunstan happens to come upon Marner’s cottage when the weaver is not there, and it’s a quick job to slip inside by the unlocked door, find the hidden cache of gold, and slip out again.
When Marner discovers the theft, he can hardly function. He’s beside himself with grief, but manages to report crime to the townspeople. They actually feel sorry for Marner when they see how this has affected him, but there’s really nothing they can do. An investigation turns up few clues, so Marner appears to be out of luck.
Then a little while after the theft, something happens that changes Marner’s life forever. One snowy night, a small child of two years old wanders into his cottage. Marner has no idea where the child came from, so once again he bursts in on a Raveloe gathering to seek help. It’s soon discovered that the child’s mother died in the snow (after overdosing on opium), and since the father can’t be identified, Marner decides then and there to keep the child and raise it himself.
This declaration causes quite a stir among the townspeople, but no one really objects. The rest of the novella then tells of how Silas raises the child Eppie and grows to become a completely different man thanks to the child’s presence. Several subplots are dealt with as well, including the question of Eppie’s paternity and the mystery of Silas’ stolen gold.
My Reaction: I liked Silas Marner very much. On the surface, it’s quite a simple story about a man who is changed by love; but there are indeed several additional layers to Eliot’s work for anyone who wants to delve a bit deeper. For example, the author addresses such themes as the class system, faith, chance, etc. and the critical reader (or listener, as the case may be) might want to evaluate the validity of Eliot’s arguments. Since I’m not in school right now and just wanted to enjoy a good story, I didn’t give much thought to these larger themes.
I was sympathetic to the Silas Marner character right from the beginning, even when he was more interested in his gold than anything else. I initially felt bad for him after he was set up for the robbery, and I knew his descent into miserliness wasn’t completely his fault. Eliot did a wonderful job of describing Marner’s reaction to his missing gold; his anxiety and grief really came alive in that part of the story. In fact, my palms were sweating on Silas’ behalf as I listened to what happened!
The story moved along at a nice brisk pace, and with the exception of one or two chapters, everything had a direct impact on the main plot. All of the characters were interesting, all were likable (except Dunstan), and all got exactly what they deserved in the end. Overall, Silas Marner was a highly satisfying book.
Since I listened to an audiobook, I feel I should say something about the quality of the recordings. The entire work was read by a single reader, Rachel Ellen. At the beginning, I thought she went way too fast. It seemed as though she was just plowing through without even observing punctuation marks. But after a few chapters, Rachel settled in very nicely and turned in a good performance. Her voice was pleasant to listen to and she really did justice to this book.
I highly recommend the Librivox recording of Silas Marner for anyone who enjoys audiobooks and/or wants to give George Eliot a try!