Exploration of the theme "Fatherhood" in "Silas Marner"

 

 

Question:01.

Critically comment on the theme of fatherhood as portrayed in George Eliot’s Silas Marner.

                         

                                                  Answer to the Quest No:01

                                                                   

                                      “A child more than all other gifts,

                                       That earth can offer to declining man,

                                       Brings hope with it and forward-looking thoughts.”

        George Eliot quotes these lines from William Wordsworth’s poem “Michael”. The novelist has skillfully used these lines in the epigraph of the novel to unfold the significance of parenthood and the powerful emotional effect that a child can have on a parent. The novel Silas Marner is about a weaver who is deceived and left in the realm of utter despair because of his bosom friend William’s artful duplicity. When Silas lived in Lantern Yard, William Dane falsely accused Silas of theft using his cataleptic fit as a weapon and he was ex-communicated. Now, in Raveloe, Silas has cut all the connections with the society life and willingly accepted “solitary imprisonment”. His faith in religion is shattered. He lives only for his “loom” and “guineas” and loves these material elements like his “unborn children”.

        Silas’s inordinate passion for gold always insists him to weave incessantly and fills his ears and eyes with monotony. But it’s Eppie who has reawakened Silas’s senses and helped him re-establish a fine-tune social life as she is an embodiment of rejuvenation.

       In the novel, Eliot shows that the nurturing procedure of Silas is quite opposite to the nature of Eppie’s biological parents. Molly Farren, Eppie’s mother, neglects the child due to her opium addiction and this ultimately makes Eppie orphan. Godfrey Cass, Eppie’s biological father, possesses a weak-willed attitude and is unable to think much beyond his worldly comfort.

     Actually, Godfrey is a victim of “habitual irresolution” because of his father Squire Cass, the greatest man in Raveloe. Squire Cass is a widower and a father of four children whose house “without the presence of the mother which is the fountain of wholesome love and fear in parlor and kitchen” has turned the sons ill. Though Squire Cass considers himself to have been “too good a father”, it is nothing but an irony because he is an implacable man in reality and makes “resolutions in violent anger.” His “sudden fits of unrelentingness” has created a thick boarder of distance between him and his sons, made Dunstan a drunkard and a gambler and generated a sense of doubt in Godfrey’s mind about his love and sympathy. So, the image of the Red House does not support an atmosphere of gentle nurturing and care.

     In contrast to Squire Cass, Mr. Lammeter is also a widower who has brought up his daughters without a wife “in that way that they never suffered a pinch of salt to be wasted”. Although Mr. Lammeter is a single father like Squire Cass, his prudence and love for his daughters encourage him to allow female involvement in the proper upbringing of his daughters. Mrs. Osgood, his sister-in-law, has helped him greatly in this regard. He is rewarded at his old age for his good parenting. Nancy inherits all the moral rectitude from her father and regards him as “the soberest and the best man in that countryside”. Pricilla, too, considers herself fortunate to “have a good father and a good home” and wants to live with him forever to take care of him and run the family business.

     Godfrey knows very well that if he confesses the truth, his father will disinherit him and he will not be able to marry the dignified daughter of Mr. Lammeter, Nancy. As a result, he hides the truth and his moral cowardice deprives the child from having the recognition as his daughter. When Silas declares that he will take the responsibility of the child, Godfrey addresses his own daughter as “poor little thing” and gives Silas “half-a-guinea” to bear the expenditure of the child. Thus, he escapes from his responsibilities as a father. Here, Godfrey can be compared with Fyodor Karamazov of the novel The Brothers Karamazov written by Dostoyevsky. Fyodor has three sons- Dmitri, Ivan and Alexei. But he does not want to take care of his sons and wants somebody else to take their responsibilities. On the other hand, Silas has no blood connection with Eppie. He adopts her when he was in a mortified mood after losing his gold because Eppie’s “soft yellow rings” resemble Silas’s gold. He says, “My money’s gone, I don’t know where-and this come from I don’t know where.” He names the child after the name of his late sister Eppie and indulges her out of love. He says, “She will be my little un, she will be nobody else’s.” Though Silas has lost faith in religion, he agrees to “christen” Eppie for her welfare and says, “But I want to do everything as can be done for the child”. Moreover, Eppie is brought up without any punishment and Silas’s stone hut is a “soft nest” for Eppie. Silas adds, “If she makes me a bit o’ trouble, I can bear it.” Silas’s boundless love for Eppie is conspicuous because he does not impose his decisions on Eppie and lets her decide whether she will go with Godfrey to lead a luxurious life or not.

       Eppie’s devotion to Silas is his reward for being a good father. She sportingly refuses the proposal of leading a luxurious life brought by her own father Godfrey. On the day of wedding, Eppie reassures Silas by saying, “You are not giving me away father. You’ll only be taking Aaron to be a son to you.”

        This personal reward gained by Silas is the result of good parenting. At the same time, Godfrey comes to some self-realization at the end of the novel. He realizes that rights and duties cannot be separated. He says with a heavy-heart, “I wanted to pass childless once, I shall pass for childless now against my wish.”

        Frank Pitman famously remarked, “Fathering is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man.” So, we can say that among the four pre-dominant father figures, Silas and Mr. Lammeter have fulfilled the core message of the quote. Specially, Silas suits the quote best because he has raised up a girl of purity, honesty and morality in spite of being gullible and imperfect.

                                

Question:02

B) “I’ll say no more. Let it be as you will. Speak to the child. I’ll hinder nothing.”

                                  

                                               Answer to the Quest. No:02

                                                               

“I’ll say no more. Let it be as you will. Speak to the child. I’ll hinder nothing.”

          This speech has been taken from the novel Silas Marner written by George Eliot. It is delivered by Silas Marner, the protagonist of the novel. Silas is in an argumentative conversation with Godfrey Cass when Godfrey wants to impose his forceful guardianship on Eppie after sixteen years.

            Eppie is Godfrey’s own daughter from his secret marriage with Molly Farren. When Silas found the child near his hearth and brought her to the Red House sixteen years ago, Godfrey did not give any recognition to his daughter. The implacability of his father’s character and his indomitable wish to marry Nancy Lammeter resisted him from taking the responsibilities of the child. As Godfrey could not confess the truth of his secret marriage, Silas took all the responsibilities of Eppie. At that time, he was utterly frustrated for losing his gold and Eppie’s golden hair reminded him of his gold. He has brought up the girl with love and affection and never put any shackle of restraint around her legs. Thus, orphan Eppie’s life is rescued by Marner. She has been gifted with a life of fatherly love instead of being abandoned by the society. Now, they are inseparable.  But suddenly, Godfrey Cass feels the importance of having a child and approaches Silas with the proposal of adopting Eppie. He assures that Eppie will be able to lead a luxurious life if she goes with them. When Silas reminds Godfrey about his insensible attitude toward the child in the past, Godfrey bursts out of rage and accuses Silas for being an obstacle on the way of Eppie’s happiness. But Silas’s love for Eppie is undying and he gives her priority more than anything. So, he leaves the responsibility of taking this decision on Eppie.

          Eppie’s sporting refusal of leading a luxurious life proves that her attachment with Silas cannot be exchanged with money.

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