Silas Marner

Silas is the eponymous protagonist, but the novel is not necessarily about his exploits as an individual. Instead, the plot is predicated on his proximity to other people. This proximity can be broken down into three distinct phases. First, he is exiled from the community at Lantern Yard. This experience leaves him jaded and bitter. Second, he lives on the periphery of the community of Raveloe. This experience becomes a search for self-meaning, as he replaces the social parts of his existence with work and money. Third, he is gradually accepted into the community through the community’s empathy over his suffering and his lasting good nature. Silas’s proximity to the community emphasizes the importance of social interaction during his era. In the early 19th century, villages, towns, and cities provided an important structure for existence in the form of material and social support networks. Neighbors rely on one another to get by and, because he consciously rejects this form of community, Silas is considered strange. The way in which other characters perceive Silas’s rejection of community is indicative of the importance of these support networks. Many people in Raveloe depend on these networks to survive, either through acts of charity from the wealthy or the outreach from the church.