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Silas Marner

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Silas Marner has undergone a massive change of personality and character, or as George Eliot calls it a metamorphosis. Marner goes from being a humble, trusting man, to a man who locks himself up with his money, away from other people, where he can no longer be hurt. This is because of the significant events that happened to him previously. At the beginning of the story, when Silas Marner is still at Lantern Yard, Marner is described as having a “defenceless, deer-like gaze”. This deer-like gaze portrays a soft, quiet, trusting creature. At this point, Marner has complete faith and trust in his friend, William Dane. He also has complete trust in God, and in people in general, to know what is right and wrong, good and bad. When Marner is first accused of stealing the money he said nothing but “God will clear me.” He believes that even if nobody realises that he didn’t steal the money, God will show them, God will protect him. Then, when he finally realises that he has been set up by his ‘best friend’, he states that “There is no just God.” By saying this, he realises that everything he believed in was a lie. That he could no longer trust God or man. Losing belief in the only two things you believe in, made Silas Marner the bitter man we see at the beginning of chapter 1. After being found guilty by the citizens of lantern yard, Marner tries to carry on with normal life in disbelief at what has just happened. Shortly after this, Marner’s fiancée, Sarah, announces the breakup. Only a month later Dane and Sarah get married. Knowing that he had lost everything, Marner moved on. Now his once trusting, friendly eyes are replaced by brown, protuberant eyes set in a pale face, emitting a dreadful

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